Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Higgins, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

():  I move:

That this House:

(1) notes the clear message the Australian people sent in May 2022, demanding real action on climate change by electing the current Government;

(2) further notes the Government has not wasted a day by:

(a) increasing Australia's emission reduction targets from 26 per cent to 43 per cent;

(b) legislating to bring back the Climate Change Authority;

(c) putting net zero in the objects of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and Australian Renewable Energy Agency Acts;

(d) legislating our $20 billion Rewiring the Nation Fund;

(e) taking substantial steps to create an offshore wind industry in Australia;

(f) agreeing to a sensible capacity investment scheme with the states;

(g) working with states and territories to put emissions reduction into the National Energy Objectives, and to develop a new National Energy Transformation Partnership;

(h) signing the Global Methane Pledge and joining the Climate Change Club and Global Offshore Wind Alliance;

(i) reforming the safeguard mechanism so that our biggest industrial emitters are doing their fair share;

(j) passing the electric vehicle discount, releasing the National Electric Vehicle Strategy and commencing the rollout of the Driving the Nation charging program;

(k) committing $1.7 billion to the Energy Savings Program, providing real financial support to households, businesses, and local governments to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency;

(l) signing funding agreements to deliver more than 50 community batteries around Australia;

(m) establishing the Net Zero Economy Agency to have a laser-like focus on the economic opportunities for the regions at the centre of the energy transformation; and

(n) budgeting $2 billion for the vital Hydrogen Headstart Program; and

(3) acknowledges that this is just another way the Government is working for Australia and delivering on the promise of building the better future Australians voted for.

We are living through the era of consequences when it comes to climate change. Extreme weather events, whether they be fires, floods, heat waves or indeed extreme cold snaps have become a new dystopian reality. But we also are now in an era of a responsive government that is trying its hardest to turn this supertanker around. For the first time, after a decade of denial and delay, we have a coherent energy policy. It is a policy that is focused on energy generation, energy distribution and indeed energy storage; three pillars to having a coherent, all-of-society approach to climate change. We legislated targets. This was one of the earliest acts that we performed as a government. We now have legislated targets which take us on a trajectory to net zero, and in just one year we've seen the effects of this investment signal.

We started off with renewable energy sitting at 33 per cent; it is now at around 38 or 39 per cent, and that hasn't happened by accident. We have a massive uplift required in order to get us to our 2030 target, which will be 82 per cent renewable energy. Some say that is too ambitious. We think that is achievable, but we realise that we have a lot of work to do. We've also imposed tough emission controls on our heaviest emitters through the safeguard mechanism—actually putting teeth on this mechanism—which it didn't previously have. That means it will be equivalent to taking two-thirds of Australia's cars off the roads. It's actually quite difficult when you think about the emitters that we're actually talking about—big oil, big gas, coal mines and so on—but eventually this same safeguard mechanism will also be invoked for renewable energy projects—gigascale wind farms, for example, critical mineral mines and so on.

In addition to this, we have committed $20 billion to Rewiring the Nation to modernise our grid so that it is renewable ready. We've have announced six offshore wind zones, including one off the Bass Strait. This will enable Tasmania to reach an ambitious target of 200 per cent renewable energy. It is an absolutely fantastic announcement. It also means it has partnered us with other groups worldwide in the Global Offshore Wind Alliance. Australia is now a signatory to that.

With respect to the next stages, we have announced six sectoral plans. We're taking a sector by sector approach to decarbonise our country. That means we are tailoring plans for the electricity and energy market industry, agriculture, the built environment, transport and the resource sector. With respect to transport, for the first time in Commonwealth history, Australia has a national EV strategy. This strategy was designed with stakeholders and it means that we've introduced tax cuts for electric vehicles, which has resulted in an uplift in sales from two per cent to nine per cent, but we want to go further. This EV strategy is also partnered with $500 million towards a national charging infrastructure, which includes eventually rolling out hydrogen on our highways for our heavy vehicles. With respect to green hydrogen this is a small molecule with big ambitions. We have devoted $2 billion to a Hydrogen Headstart program in our last budget. This will enable Australia to create the liquid fuel that will eventually replace diesel and petrol for our heavy machinery and heavy industry.

With respect to storage, we want to keep the lights on with green energy, and that's why we have introduced a Capacity Investment Scheme with $10 billion towards it, and it's why we are rolling out 400 community batteries across the nation at a cost of $400 million. But that's not all—we're wrapping integrity around this, because there is a lot of money involved in this transition. Across two budgets, we have committed $40 billion of public money, and this is why we've introduced the National Anti-Corruption Commission. We've also strengthened the Climate Change Authority, a legacy of the Gillard government, and we have pumped another $46 million into this authority that was starved under those opposite. We commissioned the Chubb review to look at offsets, and we also dispensed with the dodgy Kyoto credits of the previous government. We have a lot to do, and the climate piece will be integrating with a lot of other work, including industry and skills.

Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Do we have a second for the motion?

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve the right to speak.

Zoe Daniel (Goldstein, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Good, but not good enough—these will be the words that define this government's attempt at climate policy if it continues down the current path. While this government has taken more measures to address the climate crisis than its predecessor, that's no benchmark. This science tells us that the government's 43 per cent emission reduction targets don't even come close to the targets required to help keep the planet below the 1.5 or two degrees of global warning limits set in Paris. As the government stands here and espouses its achievements and goals, Australia lags in its global multinational commitments and misses out on opportunities to become a world-leader in the new international net zero technology economy.

In May 2022, the Australian people delivered a clear mandate on climate leadership by electing the current government. So when will this government embrace that and begin to treat the climate crisis with the urgency and the ambitious policy it deserves? I wish to voice my concern to the House that evidence suggests Australia is not currently on course. Its 43 per cent reductions goal of 2030, a target which was less than ambitious in the first place, is starting to look like a ceiling, not a floor. We can do better. The inadequate safeguard mechanism, the continued approval of new coal and gas projects, and the fanciful suggestion of capturing carbon and dumping it under the sea all run counter to what we need to achieve. With every day that passes, our job gets harder. We must do better.

So how do we move from good to great? First: dramatically increase investment in Australia's net zero economy. Australia has a generational opportunity to become not only a renewable energy superpower but also a global leader in clean-tech design and manufacturing. We need ambitious policy-making so that we don't become a laggard to the likes of the US and their Inflation Reduction Act, causing us to lose ideas, talent and opportunity. These are not just my words. Industry bodies like the Smart Energy Council, Climate Energy Finance, the ACTU, and the Australian Conservation Foundation are all calling for over $100 billion to take advantage of this historic opportunity. It's time to be bolder and braver.

Second: energy policy that builds faster, cleaner and cheaper community energy. The $20 billion Rewiring the Nation program is an important step in increasing the amount of renewable energy in the grid, while at the same time reducing the cost of energy for Australian households. In the words of the Australian scientist and inventor Saul Griffith, we should electrify everything. We should subsidise and enable the ability for Australians to decarbonise and electrify their households. We should build the EV infrastructure necessary to service an electrified transport system. We should drive home energy generation and storage. If the government is serious about its stated strategic objectives, this is what it takes.

Goldstein is an excellent example of the community hunger and support for this type of approach. Village Zero is a community electrification zero waste and environment project seeking a series of community batteries to be shared throughout the Sandringham community, allowing the storage and redistribution of excess solar energy generated to be used by our network during the evening peak. Goldstein is seeking to lead the way in local energy generation, local energy distribution, and lower costs for households, but government support is required to back communities that are prepared to execute this transition at the local level. This is the low-hanging fruit that government should be going for.

And three: we need environment laws that work to protect our climate. The current EPBC Act allows the government to continue approving new coal and gas projects, despite organisations like the IPCC telling us that emissions from all existing fossil fuel projects are more than enough to push us beyond 1.5 degrees of warming. Australia Institute research shows that, if all 116 proposed coal and gas projects in the pipeline went ahead, annual emissions from those projects alone would be almost triple our emissions produced in 2021-22. Summoning the resolve to reject new fossil fuels is crucial.

'Good but not good enough'—these are the words that will ring in our ears if we fail to invest in our future economy, if we fail to invest in our local communities and if we fail to live up to our renewable potential.

Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to rise and speak to this motion. Climate action means a lot to my constituents. The people of Boothby voted overwhelmingly for real action on climate change, and the Albanese government, with Minister Bowen at the helm of this issue, is getting on with this momentous job. After a decade of going backwards, it is a huge job. I'd like to thank the member for Higgins, Dr Ananda-Rajah, for this motion. She was also elected on this issue, and we are both proud of the steps that this government has taken so far and the broad agenda it has going forward to take real steps in tackling this issue.

I thought I'd update my constituents on where the government is acting on climate. We've lifted our country's emission reduction targets by half, from 26 per cent to 43 per cent, and become just one of 33 countries to enshrine those targets, together with net zero, in the law of the land, sending a message to renewable energy investors around the world that Australia has changed and is open and welcome to renewable investment. We legislated to bring the Climate Change Authority back to play a real and meaningful role in advising government—and have properly resourced it. We put net zero in the objects of the CEFC and ARENA Acts to ensure that they keep this goal front of mind when making decisions and made it relevant to other key industries such as Infrastructure Australia and Export Finance Australia.

We've legislated our $20 billion Rewiring the Nation fund and struck funding deals for vital new energy infrastructure in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. We've developed and are implementing a four-point plan for better community engagement on transmission, and we've commissioned a review on what more we can and should do to improve social licence. We finalised the law allowing offshore wind development in Australia, and we've designated the Gippsland and Hunter zones and begun consultation elsewhere. Expressions of interest for Gippsland's licences are being processed, and EOIs will open soon for Hunter.

After years of talk, we've agreed to the sensible Capacity Investment Scheme with the states, which will unleash at least six gigawatts of dispatchable renewable power and $10 billion of investment. We've launched the first action, with New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia to follow shortly. We've agreed with the states and territories to finally put emissions reduction into the National Energy Objectives so our regulators and operators have it as one of their guiding principles when setting the rules for our energy market. We've agreed with the states and territories to develop the new National Energy Transformation Partnership to help guide public and private investment. We've signed the Global Methane Pledge and joined the Climate Club and Global Offshore Wind Alliance, and we've given the safeguard mechanism teeth, requiring net emissions reductions from our 215 biggest emitters.

We've passed the electric vehicle discount. This has driven an increase in electric vehicle sales from around two per cent a year ago to around nine per cent today. We funded, and are about to commence, the rollout of the Driving the Nation charging program, which will see a fast charger every 150 kilometres on average on our highways. We've released the National Electric Vehicle Strategy, including, most importantly, a commitment to implement fuel efficiency standards. We are ahead of our target on the policy of making 75 per cent of Commonwealth-purchased cars low-emissions by 2025, and today chargers were opened in the APH public car park.

We commissioned the independent Chubb review to verify and improve the important carbon credit market, to ensure it's delivering real emissions reductions, and we've committed $1.7 billion to the energy savings program providing real financial support to households, businesses and local governments to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency. We've signed funding agreements to deliver more than 50 community batteries around Australia. There's one planned for Edwardstown in Boothby, and I'm really keen to see more coming into this area.

I know the people in Boothby are very concerned about climate change and they're keen to see action. We had Minister Bowen in Boothby last week, engaging with local climate action groups. This government has approved more renewable projects than any previously, and the faster we get renewables online the faster we can phase out fossil fuels—without the blackouts that will kill social licence. This government is committed to this process and we are taking positive steps forward.

Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm a strong supporter of renewable energy and the benefits the transition to renewables could bring to regional Australia. The member for Higgins has highlighted some of the government's work on climate change and energy. However, if the government is to meet its own targets and decarbonise the economy, it must do more to bring the whole nation along on the decarbonisation journey. Australia does have the best renewable energy resources in the world, and the transition to renewable electricity is underway in the regions. In my electorate of Indi, a trip up the Hume Highway from Melbourne to Wodonga will take you past grid-scale solar projects near Glenrowan and Winton.

As a regional Independent, I want my local communities, and others like them in regional, rural, and remote Australia, to benefit—to truly benefit—from hosting these large-scale, mostly foreign owned renewable energy developments. This must be a win-win situation. Through job creation, skills development and co-investment, locally generated power could, and should, be driving money into our local regional economies and reducing power bills now and long into the future.

Landholders and farmers, understandably, have questions about the benefits and the impacts of proposed projects close to where they live. Yet their questions and inquiries are too often dismissed as objections to projects and progress, and that's not fair to them. A question becomes an objection if it's not listened to. Regional people are practical, resilient people who look for sensible solutions to new challenges. Regional communities deserve to be consulted early and honestly, to have their concerns listened to and to be provided with options to capitalise on these long-term benefits that can be realised with the renewables boom—a boom that's happening at their farm gate and, in many instances, inside their farm gate.

The failure to properly consult with regional communities affected by large-scale renewable energy projects risks delaying or, indeed, derailing the transition to a decarbonised energy grid. Project developers would do well to listen to the concerns of local people, and I'm pleased that the government is waking up to this. In September, I joined Indi locals from Meadow Creek, the Strathbogie Ranges, Barnawartha and beyond as they had their say about renewable energy projects proposed near to where they live in the electorate of Indi.

The Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner, Professor Andrew Dyer, visited Indi to conduct three roundtables as part of his community engagement review. The review was established to advise on how best to engage with communities about future renewable energy and transmission projects. Independent senator David Pocock and I worked closely with the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Minister Chris Bowen, to put the interests of regional Australians front and centre in this review, ensuring that the terms of reference would properly cover both the opportunities and the challenges being faced across regional, rural and remote Australia. The review is considering issues I know are important to regional communities, such as the impact of projects on agricultural land, emergency management and fire risks and the possible increases in landholder insurance premiums.

My communities are telling me about these issues, and what they're also telling me is that community consultation by project developers has been disappointing to date. This is what we need: (1) assurances that renewable energy project developments do not adversely impact the availability or affordability of insurance for neighbouring landholders; (2) land not suitable for renewable energy infrastructure development being clearly mapped, including land that has high agricultural value or fragile ecosystems or is in a high-risk natural disaster zone; (3) community engagement guidelines that require developers to broadly engage local communities early and honestly, with genuine avenues for addressing community concerns; and (4) a requirement that all new large-scale renewable energy projects offer at least 20 per cent of project equity to local investors in a community and co-investment funding round before final planning approval can be granted.

These are sensible, practical measures grounded in the knowledge and lived experience of farmers and regional Australians. The commissioner's report for the Community Engagement Review is due very soon, and, if the government is serious about successfully transitioning to renewable energy, they must carefully consider and respond to the voices of regional Australians who deserve to be consulted earlier and to have a share in the economic benefits of the renewable energy boom.

Libby Coker (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Deadly heatwaves, drought, fire, flood and species extinction: these are just some of the impacts of climate change facing Australia right now. But, unlike the previous coalition government, we are acting. I would like to thank the member for Higgins for moving this motion. As I stand here today, our country stares down yet another bushfire season, with recent fires and floods causing devastation and loss of life and triggering nightmares of previous disasters. As someone who experienced the Ash Wednesday fires, I send my heartfelt condolences to all those impacted.

What we know is that, in the wake of these disasters, there is no time for procrastination—no time to sit on our hands. Climate change is real, and its impacts are felt every day, not just across our nation but across the globe. In May 2022, the Australian people sent a clear message, electing the Albanese government to urgently address climate change. We are acting on this mandate. We have increased the country's emissions reduction targets from 26 per cent to 43 per cent by 2030, quickly restoring our standing in the world. We've updated our nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement.

Now Australia is back at the table and acting on climate change, with our 2030 target now in line with countries like Canada and Japan. We've reformed the safeguard mechanism to help us deliver more than 200 million tonnes of emissions reduction by 2030, which is the equivalent of taking two-thirds of Australia's cars off the road. By 2030, with the upgrading of the grid, we aim to achieve 82 per cent clean, cheap renewable energy. But the fight against climate change is not just about policy change. It's about collective action. It is about each and every one of us making conscious choices in our daily lives to protect our precious natural world.

Over the last few weeks, I visited many projects in my own electorate of Corangamite, where landholders are taking a proactive stance to safeguard our region's unique ecosystems, thanks to federal government funded programs. Local landholders Peter Brew, Simon Koch and Cliff Rossack, among others, have partnered with the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority and the Surf Coast Energy Group to deliver these much-needed programs. I saw firsthand the improvements made to the local environment, including through protecting the Victorian Volcanic Plains near Bannockburn, Spring Creek valley on the Surf Coast and the habitat for the critically endangered birds on the Bellarine Peninsula.

In Bannockburn, I saw the grasslands alive with colourful wildflowers, chocolate lilies, native orchids and nationally threatened clover. The property was also a fine example of a cultural burning program, supporting the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation to conduct cultural burns and other traditional land management practices on public and private land. Spring Creek valley and the protecting biodiversity in the Surf Coast hinterland project has delivered revegetation of farmland and community engagement at two sites along the much-loved stretch of land. The project has achieved revegetation of more than 600 native plants, 250 hours of weed control and the participation of more than 200 volunteers at three community planting days.

In Wallington, another project is being delivered to improve the chances of survival for the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot. It includes releasing captive-bred birds to support the wild population in the Bellarine Peninsula and undertaking invasive predator control and habitat improvement works. By investing in these projects, landholders are not only contributing to the protection of our unique ecosystem but also setting an inspiring example for responsible land management. Further opportunities to nurture our environment are on the table, with the minister for the environment's nature repair market bill currently before the Senate. Such policies and local projects show we can and will make a difference.

The Albanese government's commitment to the environment and to climate change action is not just a promise; it is a moral obligation. A cleaner, healthy environment is the foundation upon which we address climate change, and it's imperative we fulfil it for our planet and for future generations.

David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is a really important motion, even if it's been relegated up to the Federation Chamber. Everyone in this room is pretty much trying to achieve the same thing, but I'm just calling on everyone to call a timeout and see what is actually achievable. In our current plans, which are 100 per cent relying on transitioning away from fossil fuels and into a renewable energy system, along with changing land use, there will be massive connections of new grids and extra land needed for the production of low-density energy that's randomly variable depending on what the weather is. An individual household or a small isolated entity, once it's built, can go off-grid, relying on solar and wind. If you pay enough money and have enough batteries, you can do that. But you can't do that with an industrial economy. It's just physically impossible, and I'll just go through some of the reasons behind that.

The University of Melbourne, Princeton, the University of Queensland and the Nous Group have just spent two years looking at the cost of transitioning away to a renewables future by 2030, along with the other land use things. All we have to do in Australia, to get there by 2030, is spend about $1.5 trillion—that's all. That's a bargain, because the net present value of what we have to spend by 2050 is $5.5 trillion. If it's in the real world—you don't spend it overnight now and get it in 2050—it's $7 trillion to $9 trillion by 2050. We also only have to convert 5.1 million hectares of good agricultural land into native forest, and, depending on whether we've got a hydrogen based economy, we'll need up to 28,000 kilometres of new poles and wires. Considering the national grid is now about 3,500 kilometres from one end to the other, at least the main spine of it—the distribution network is another latticework of stuff, but, for transmission and distribution, if we're going to make hydrogen all over the place its 28,000 kilometres.

So we've got a problem with that. None of that is realistic, and that's why they did the study. It copied the same principles that they did on the net zero America study, which came to similar conclusions. But in that net zero study, they included nuclear because it's had a major renaissance and it's expanding everywhere. There's also a bit in this motion about giving a methane pledge, which I have big problems with because they're equating biological methane that comes from bovines with methane that's escaping from a coal plant. It's a closed energy system. Each animal itself is about 15 per cent carbon. So, if you're going to sacrifice a cow of 700 kilos, that's an awful lot of carbon. It's permanent.

Also, with this renewable plan to replace our fossil fuels, we don't have enough minerals. We are going to reach peak minerals before we reach peak oil. The amount of minerals in copper alone—and I'm quoting Professor Simon Michaux, University of Queensland trained, who now heads the highly respected Geological Survey of Finland, which is the equivalent of the US Geological Survey or Geoscience. He's highly respected. The amount of copper mined through history, to now, is about 700 million tonnes. The world's total reserves of copper are 880 million tonnes, and that's according to the US Geological Survey.

We will need, in the next 22 years, 700 million tonnes. If we're going to be recycling all the batteries, by 2050 we're going to need about 6.1 billion tonnes of copper, which is clearly not possible. We will have to mine 8.8 times more copper than has ever been mined since mining started. That is not realistic. Never mind all the rare earth batteries. It's just unbelievable.

With global reserves, we need a 12-week, 84-day buffer of stationary power storage to go off, and we don't have enough minerals to make batteries, let alone all the cars. Siemens, Orsted and CIP are all going broke, because the economics of wind power is only there if it gets huge subsidies. That's why they're all going broke. And none of the wind options are being taken up by anyone. So we really need to think that, if you're going to defossilise the economy, nuclear is the way to go. Everyone in Europe has worked that out. Everyone in America has worked that out.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Have you heard about NuScale?

David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, NuScale is a new, never built—

That is really a red herring.

Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.