Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this afternoon to use this grievance debate to repudiate the energy policy that was proposed by the WA Liberal Party in the lead-up to the Western Australian state election. While I'll always be loyal to the Liberal Party, for me, my constituents came first. That means that, when the state Liberal Party releases a policy that would cause great harm to an important community in O'Connor, I will stand by those constituents and be their voice in parliament.

Coal has historically been an integral part of power generation in Western Australia, and the tight-knit town of Collie is central to this. Coal was first discovered in Collie in the 1880s and, over the past 130 years, has provided thousands of people with jobs and a good living in the South-West of WA. There are now two coalmines in Collie, the only operating coalmines in WA, producing about 700 million tonnes a year. I'm very proud of those coalminers, who work hard, in my communities. Coalmining is a tough job. Those workers experience harsh working conditions, and, while it's a come a long way from underground days, open-cut mining is still a pretty tough job. It's hard, dangerous work. I can tell you they certainly breed them tough in Collie.

The majority of Collie's coal is used to power three power stations, which generate about 50 per cent of the state's electricity. Two of those power stations, Collie and Muja, are operated by Synergy, a state government owned entity. An 'ambitious' plan—inverted commas are needed—announced by former leader of the WA Liberal Party Zak Kirkup would have seen the Collie and Muja power stations close their doors for good in 2025. This plan showed no regard for the Collie community and no concern for the people who rely on those power stations for employment and to provide for their families. No consideration was given to the consequences for the many small, medium and large businesses who rely on these industries.

The Worsley Alumina refinery down the road also employs 3,000 people and relies on baseload power that is produced by the Collie Power Station. Worsley employs so many people and puts an incredible amount of wealth back into the local economy in the South-West of Western Australia. The McGowan Labor government had already announced that two of the four operating units at Muja Power Station would be retired in October 2022, equating to about 80 job losses. But Zak Kirkup's plan would have seen hundreds more jobs go over the next four years, which would have been a disaster for Collie. It's obvious this green-energy plan was a last-ditch attempt by Kirkup and his team to swing Greens voters in the western suburbs of Perth to vote Liberal. It was foolish and it was unsuccessful. The energy plan included building a 1,500-megawatt solar and wind energy project in the mid-west of the state to power Perth, the south-west, the Wheatbelt and Kalgoorlie. In conjunction with the private sector, they also planned to construct a further 4,500 megawatts of wind and solar energy by 2030 to convert water into over 250,000 tonnes of hydrogen for export per year to power a new green steel industry. This is all very virtuous, but, at the end of the day, if you look at the intermittent energy that's produced by these sources, you see very quickly that you need a firming source, and, of course, in Western Australia that firming source comes from the Collie power stations.

The plan proposed would supposedly see the state government reduce emissions to zero by 2030. Not only is this clearly not going to work but the plan was doomed from the outset because obviously the numbers didn't add up and it was undeliverable. There is no way that you could close two power stations and expect to power a state without costing billions of dollars and decreasing reliability. There are existing coal supply contracts in place until 2030 between Synergy and one of the local coalmining companies. To break that supply contract would cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars to pay out the contracts, which is a complete waste of finance and resources. The Collie Power Station's A unit has plenty of life left in it and could continue to operate until 2040. To close it prematurely is a complete waste of resources.

We've now witnessed firsthand what the voters thought of this energy policy, with the WA Liberal Party reduced to two members in the lower house and the Labor Party gaining control of both houses. It's essential we work together to create a prosperous future for Collie to diversify the economy and provide new industries for the town going forward. It is inevitable at some point in the future that we will see the closure and reduction of coalmining in Collie. The Collie community has also accepted it needs to diversify its economy to provide long-term jobs, but any move to this must be balanced with a sound energy plan that will support the Collie community and its workforce. Kirkup's policy to force the closure of coal-fired power stations by 2025 is not the answer to drive down emissions.

This policy is in stark contrast to the well-considered energy policy of the Morrison government. Our policy is focused on securing affordable and reliable energy for hardworking Australians while also reducing emissions. Australia's competitive advantage has always been based on cheap energy, and gas will be central to our ongoing economic recovery. We will work with industry to ensure the Australian gas market is working for the benefit of all Australians. While ambition is important, achievement and outcomes are what matter. We smashed our Kyoto era emissions target by 459 million tonnes. Australia's emissions have fallen faster than the G20 average, faster than the OECD average and much faster than similar developed economies, like Canada and New Zealand. Between 2005 and 2018, our emissions fell by more than 13 per cent. New Zealand's emissions have barely budged, while Canada's fell by less than one per cent. The latest figures have us 19 per cent below 2005 levels and we're on track to meet and beat our 2030 target of reducing emissions by 26 to 28 per cent below 2005 levels. On a per-person basis, our 2030 target is more ambitious than Norway, Canada, Germany, New Zealand or France. It's important to say that this is merely a floor in our ambition. We want to meet and beat that target. The latest emissions projections published in December 2020 show we're on track to do exactly that. As the PM said, we want to achieve net zero emissions as soon as possible.

But we are committed to the principle of technology. We won't sacrifice jobs and industry in regional Australia for no global emissions benefit. We also won't increase taxes to get there. Instead, the government is focused on the how. It is focused on breakthroughs in technology that will needed to make zero net emissions possible here and around the world. Action and outcomes are what matter, and our track record is one that all Australians can be proud of. Emissions in the national electricity market have fallen to their lowest level since records began, down five per cent in 12 months, with record levels of investment in renewables continuing. In 2020, a record seven gigawatts of renewables capacity was installed in Australia. That's more renewables in one year under the Morrison government than under the whole of the previous Labor government. Emissions are lower than in any year under a previous Labor government.

To keep this momentum going, we have developed Australia's Technology Investment Roadmap. Our commitment is clear: to lower electricity prices and keep the lights on. Meanwhile, we are continuing to do our bit to reduce global emissions. Advancing the next generation of low emissions technology is crucial to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. The development and deployment of new technology is the way to reduce emissions while continuing to grow our economy and maintain a reliable and secure energy supply.

Australia's experience has been that, when new technologies become economically competitive, they are rapidly adopted by Australian businesses and households. We're seeing that happen right now with the adoption of renewables in Australia at 10 times the global average—four times higher than China, Japan, the US and Europe.

Earlier this year, the Morrison government committed $3.9 million to the Renergi project. The $9.4 million project includes the construction and operation of a new waste-to-energy demonstration plant in the aforementioned Collie. It will help create around 34 local jobs and is expected to be operational within two years. The project will not only boost employment in regional WA but also help solve waste disposal issues while producing useful energy products.

WA should not be penalised with a clean energy target that puts pressure on WA's main power source and favours renewables. If we proceed with a clean energy target, we must introduce legislation to enable the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to invest in carbon capture and storage. This will safeguard the future of the coal industry and ensure emissions from coal-fired power stations are kept out of the atmosphere.