Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Public consultation for an offshore wind zone 20 kilometres or more off the coast of Newcastle ran from February to April 2023. On 12 July last year the Albanese Labor government officially declared the zone, paving the way for cleaner, cheaper energy into the grid and job security for those in the Hunter Region.

In Newcastle last week, I welcomed the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, who announced the next stage of this orderly process that the Labor government is undertaking. We announced the granting of a feasibility licence to the Novacastrian Offshore Wind Farm, which is a joint project between a Norwegian company, Equinor, and Australia's Oceanex Energy. Environmental and other approval processes will follow, as they should, and there will be lots of time for community groups to be involved in consultations prior to any construction occurring. The opportunities for the community, along with First Nations people, to provide feedback kicks in now. Along with the opinions of our organised labour movement and marine users in our region, this will be very important feedback for the Labor government to consider. We are ensuring that there is a thorough and transparent process for the life of this project, because this is a government that cares deeply about getting this transition right.

The Novacastrian wind project is expected to generate up to two gigawatts of wind energy—enough to power an estimated 1.2 million homes. For those of us in Newcastle, we might call that enough to power two Tomago smelters. You know what? When you come from a region with some heavy industry—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Members opposite might want to listen to this. When you come from a region that actually does industry, a region that is well versed at generating, storing and distributing energy in Australia, you might want to listen to what communities like ours have to say, because it's the people of Newcastle—not those here that want to bury their heads in the sand—that are going to lead the way in this nation on how to do this transition, how to do it well and how to do it right.

Communities like mine have got a lot of skin in this game. We've got a lot at stake here. But we have the highly skilled workforce. We know how to generate, store and distribute energy as needed. We've got a world-class university and an outstanding TAFE system to educate the next generation of people working in the new energy sectors. We've got the strong, consistent offshore winds, which are obviously pretty important for the setting up of any wind farm. We've got the deepwater port of Newcastle, which knows well the need to diversify its economic base. And we've got the proximity to the grid and all of the key critical infrastructure that is required. So when people ask me, 'If this is so good, why isn't it in Sydney?' I explain exactly the reason that it's going to be in a region like Newcastle. It's because energy is what we do. We've been doing it for generations and generations, and now we're going to keep doing it with a different form of energy. That's how it's going to work.

I will tell you why people in Newcastle are pretty excited, and members opposite might want to listen to this. They are pretty keen about the 3,000 jobs that will be provided during the construction phase of offshore wind, and we are pretty damn excited about the 200 or 300 permanent jobs that will be there maintaining and supplying those offshore winds. My maritime workers in Newcastle are very excited about having some jobs, because those opposite cut their jobs, decimated Australian shipping and gave them no hope for the future, but not under the Albanese Labor government. We understand well the benefits of offshore wind and what it can bring to our communities. This is a brand new industry we are trying to stand up in Australia, so there are some genuine questions, but don't be fooled by the misinformation and disinformation that is continuously spread by members opposite. Your new-found love of marine life fools no Novocastrians.