Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I rise to introduce the Renew Australia Bill 2016. This bill establishes Renew Australia, an authority to plan and drive the transition to a new clean energy system. It comes barely days after Australia has participated in the latest global climate change summit, where the US representative at that summit came and told the rest of the world that ice is melting so rapidly around the globe that at the moment even if we stopped all pollution tomorrow sea levels may rise by 1½ metres by 2050. In other words, according to the US government over the last few days, when a child born today reaches their 30s they will experience sea levels 1½ metres greater than what we are experiencing at the moment.

We are in the middle of a climate emergency. The security of our nation is at threat, and our way of life needs to be protected. We need to act and we need to act urgently.

But the good news is that approaching the enormous challenge of climate change is also an opportunity to remake our economy and ensure our future prosperity. By powering the new economy with clean energy, we will make a new future where economic growth is decoupled from pollution.

The Greens have a plan to renew Australia by powering the new economy with clean energy. Our plan will ensure energy generation for electricity is at least 90 per cent renewable by 2030 and that our energy productivity is doubled. We will establish a $500 million government authority, Renew Australia, tasked with planning and driving the transition to a new clean energy system and to leverage $5 billion of construction in new energy generation over the next four years. We will create a $250 million clean energy transition fund to assist coal workers and communities to transition, with the total amount spent rising to $1 billion over the decade.

An energy transition is already underway in the electricity sector. The International Energy Agency says we will need to retire unabated coal fired stations over the next two decades if we are to have any chance of meeting the goals of the Paris agreement and that needs to be reflected in action around the world.

Here in Australia we have seen the closure of a number of coal fired power stations and the announcement of the retirement of Australia's dirtiest, Hazelwood, by early next year. But we cannot leave this transition to the chaos of the market, because it will undermine energy security, it will undermine the transition to clean energy and it will impact on workers and communities in affected regions. We need a government plan.

For the past month witnesses to the Senate inquiry into the retirement of coal fired power stations, including Australia's largest power companies, have been calling for a plan. Australia's largest polluter and coal fired power company, AGL, fronted up to the Senate and said, 'We want a plan for the orderly retirement of coal fired power stations in this country.' They and the others say that a national plan for the orderly retirement of coal fired capacity in the electricity market is vital to remove barriers to exit for our oldest generation and to allow investments to be made in clean energy.

This bill will implement pollution intensity standards to enable the gradual staged closure of coal fired power stations, starting with Australia's oldest and dirtiest. This is critical. We have to get off coal and onto renewables if we are to have any chance of meeting the challenge that climate change has laid down to us. But as we do so we need to ensure that no-one is left behind, that the workers in those coal fired power stations and their communities are looked after and that supply is continued so that the lights stay on as we make this transition.

Our plan aims to electrify transport and industry, including new industries that want to access cheap and clean energy. As a result of that, even with a doubling of energy efficiency, energy production for electricity in Australia actually needs to increase by about 50 per cent by 2030. So the Green's plan is actually to grow the amount of electricity that we produce in this country but to make it clean and green. The future of the energy market is going to continue to be a mix of private, public and community infrastructure, but government needs to grab this issue by the scruff of the neck. Government has established electricity networks and generation capacity before, and it needs to do it again.

Central to the implementation of our plan will be Renew Australia, the authority that this bill would establish. Government needs to be the midwife of our clean energy society. Renew Australia, the statutory authority, will drive Australia's transformation into a clean energy powerhouse and will utilise a combination of mechanisms, including driving down costs and creating a highly-skilled clean energy workforce through a staged pipeline of construction projects over the next 15 years. This will be the Snowy Hydro for the 21st century, accessing capital raised by the Commonwealth's publicly owned and operated clean energy assets and contracting with clean energy companies to build these renewable energy power plants.

Renew Australia would also run reverse auctions for the construction of lowest-cost clean energy assets, with a preference awarded towards community owned energy projects and those projects that commit to buying their materials and employing people locally. I am told that there is 20 tonnes of steel in a wind turbine. Why shouldn't that be Australian steel? Why shouldn't government be saying, 'Let's build those wind turbines and create the jobs locally and sustainably.' Australia would encourage workers to purchase energy infrastructure through their superannuation funds, which hold billions of dollars available to be invested in nationally significant infrastructure.

The bill that I am introducing today will establish Renew Australia and put in place the legal machinery to enable it to do this important work. I will turn now to the important elements of this bill in detail. Part 1 of the bill sets out the starting date for the bill, its objects and a number of other related details. The objects of the bill are: to help reduce Australia's greenhouse gas pollution by transforming Australia's electricity system; to create a new statutory authority to oversee the transformation; to achieve new energy objectives to ensure a transition plan for affected communities; and to ensure that the closure of coal fired power stations happens in a planned manner.

Part 2 of the bill establishes Renew Australia as an authority and outlines its functions. The general functions of Renew Australia are set out, including law reform, advice, renewable energy projects, support to affected communities and workers and other functions that are conferred to it. Clause 11 outlines some of those functions, and it is worth examining them closely. Clause 11(1) lists Renew Australia's law reform functions:

(a) to review Commonwealth, state and territory laws relating to electricity generation and to propose changes to those laws for the purpose of achieving the new energy objectives; and

(b) to consult with Commonwealth, state and territory governments about the proposed changes; and

(c) after consulting as mentioned in paragraph (b), to recommend to the minister changes to Commonwealth laws for the purpose of achieving the new energy objectives; and

(d) to publish the results of reviews mentioned in paragraph (a), and the changes recommended under paragraph (c), on its website.

One of the first tasks of Renew Australia will be to review our national energy laws and come up with draft legislation to explain how we will make this transition and reform the national energy market, which is in dire need of change.

Clause 11(2) lists new energy objectives for Renew Australia—and, indeed, for the country—which will drive the decisions of the authority. The new energy objectives, which will be enshrined in legislation, are to:

(a) to achieve a transition in generating electricity in Australia, so that by 2030:

  (i) 90 per cent of electricity generated in Australia is derived from renewable energy sources;

  (ii) electricity generation capacity in Australia is increased by about 50 per cent;

(b) to phase out the generation of electricity in Australia from fossil fuels;

(c) to maintain supply of electricity in Australia while the transition mentioned in paragraph (a) is achieved;

(d) to lower energy costs to households and businesses, including by enabling them to become generators of electricity from renewable energy sources;

(e) to make Australia a destination of choice for industries seeking reliable and clean energy; and, lastly,

(f) to have a national electricity grid that is suited to the transition mentioned in paragraph (a) and to which generators of electricity from renewable energy sources have a right to connect.

That last one, like many of the others, is vital. People should know that when they generate renewable electricity, whether it is on their rooftop or whether they are building a new wind farm or solar plant somewhere, they will be connected to the grid.

The bill goes on to outline Renew Australia's responsibilities to lay out a timetable for the planned closure of coal fired power stations and for principles of investment in the new national electricity grid. Importantly, in clause 11, Renew Australia is to develop laws that will proceed by complementary legislation between the states and the Commonwealth, but, if the states are not going to come to the party, then the Commonwealth needs to step in and set a new direction for our national energy market.

We can do it, constitutionally. But unless government steps in and acts, we are not going to see the replacement of coal fired power with renewables in the time frame that we need and in a way that is fair to workers and communities.

This is one of our last chances to ensure that we tackle dangerous global warming and do not leave the world worse for the next generation than we have had it ourselves. To do that, Australia needs to retire coal fired power stations and get onto renewables. This bill will set out an orderly way to make that happen.

Debate adjourned.