Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Aged Care, Disabilities and Carers) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to incorporate my speech in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

The Renewable Energy (Electricity) Amendment Bill 2006 makes some administrative amendments to the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000.

Labor will support the bill, but we are very disappointed the bill is merely tinkering with administrative arrangements for renewable energy when greater investment and action is required.

Instead of being a responsible steward for our environment and our economy, this bill shows the Howard Government has put climate change in the too hard basket.

Unfortunately, when Australia needed a responsible, forward thinking and balanced approach to climate change and renewable energy all we got was this weak piece of legislation.

The 2006 Budget did not mention climate change and had no initiatives for clean renewable energy.

This bill is consistent with the Government’s irresponsible approach of doing very little to avoid dangerous climate change.

Climate change is the greatest environmental challenge facing the world.

There is overwhelming scientific evidence that climate change caused by carbon pollution is making Australia hotter, the ocean warmer and our cities and towns drier.

The CSIRO says climate change is directly affecting every city and town’s water supply and threatening the Great Barrier Reef and Kakadu.

And the science is pretty clear that climate change increases the intensity of cyclones and hurricanes. Climate change means we’ll have more category 4 and 5 cyclones.

If climate change is unchecked it will severely damage Australia’s agricultural and tourism industries, while also affecting many Australians through severe weather events and further water restrictions.

There is no doubt that recent steep rises in temperature are down to human activity.

The recent destruction caused by Cyclones Larry and Monica is a reminder of the severe weather we must prepare for at home as our planet warms.

Increases in temperature are predicted to increase prevalence of mosquito borne diseases such as malaria into northern Australia and diseases such as Dengue Fever as far south as Sydney.

If for no other reason, Australia’s self-interest dictates we must support clean, renewable energy. To do so is prudent, and not to do so is irresponsible.

As well as understanding the immediate and long-term threat of climate change, the most important thing to understand about dangerous climate change is that it can be avoided.

If Governments, communities and businesses work together to get us out of the heat trap which is developing around the world we can avoid dangerous climate change.

Humans have become a force of nature. We are changing the climate and what happens next really is up to us.

Climate change has been caused by humans, but thankfully the solutions already exist to address it.

We can and should act to prevent the problem now.

That is why the bill before the Senate represents a failure of policy by the Howard Government.

By bringing forward a Bill that does nothing to increase the use of renewable energy the Government has failed.

The goal in trying to avoid dangerous climate change is clear. We must avoid dangerous climate change by stopping global temperatures rising by more than 2 degrees.

Renewable energy is universally acknowledged to be an important part of any strategy to avoid dangerous climate change.

However, instead of supporting clean energy projects and supporting smart, efficient technologies, the Howard Government is taking Australia the other way.

Instead of a balanced and prudent approach, the Howard Government is trapped by old-thinking and irresponsible policies.

It’s hard to believe, but in Australia there is still no national climate change strategy and, because of the Howard Government’s complacency, Australia is on track to increase its greenhouse pollution by 23% by 2020.

The Howard Government’s complacency over climate change is placing our environment, population health, economy and vital infrastructure at risk.

By doing nothing to increase use of renewable energy, the Government is once again ignoring the threat climate change represents for Australia.

Last month, Senator Campbell said it wasn’t a problem that Australian renewable energy companies had to move off shore to China in order to commercialise their products rather than produce them here.

The company ‘Roaring 40s’ recently announced it won’t proceed with half a billion dollars worth of projects in Tasmania and South Australia.

The company says this is because of the Budget’s failure to increase the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target.

The Howard Government’s policies are destroying Australia’s clean energy industry and jobs in regional Australia.

Just last month, Roaring 40s announced a $300 million deal to provide three wind farms to China.

They’re welcome in China, but not in John Howard’s Australia.

Instead of blocking clean energy projects like Bald Hill, the Howard Government should seize the economic opportunities of the worldwide push to clean, renewable energy.

Sadly, the Howard Government’s approach to renewable energy is all about politics and not about Australian jobs or the environment.

The Howard Government is being both irresponsible and very inefficient in its approach to renewable energy.

We have the potential for a stronger renewable energy industry, yet the government’s policies send jobs overseas and cripple our renewable energy market.

It is for this reason I am moving on behalf of the Opposition the second reading amendment that is before the chamber.

If we are to meet the challenges posed by climate change, and adapt to a carbon constrained economy, planning is key. We need to act now for the future of Australian society, Australian jobs and Australian business in the emerging global, clean energy economy.

Australia needs a planned approach towards a modern, clean-energy economy.

The Chair of Rio-Tinto Mr Paul Skinner has recently called for the introduction of market mechanisms as part of the global solutions to combating climate change.

Mr Skinner confirmed that “ultimately, the challenge for the global political leadership was how the two components – technology and market mechanism – could be brought together for a long term solution”.

Just as science and technology have given us tools to measure and understand the dangers of climate change, so too can they help us deal with them.

The potential for innovation and business investment is immense.

It is about providing the market based stimulus for the deployment and transfer of clean energy technologies, the transfer of which the International Energy Agency has estimated at $27.5 billion dollars worth of carbon credits.

By not ratifying Kyoto, Australia is giving the world a jump-start in this new dynamic global marketplace.

Australian companies are already being disadvantaged now by our exclusion from carbon markets and from the developing renewable energy technology markets.

The investment is simply going elsewhere. Our technology and our know-how are heading to China instead of creating jobs at home.

More and more we are seeing Australian technology, know-how and Australian jobs go overseas.

More and more, our isolation on this issue has become an international embarrassment.

The Kyoto agreement was hailed by the Prime Minister back in 1997 as a `win for the environment and a win for Australian jobs’. The PM got it right then but he is wrong now.

Labor takes a more sensible, practical approach on this issue.

We acknowledge that the nature of such agreements is that they are a product of compromise and, like almost every international agreement Australia is part of, we do not say it is perfect.

We also need to think beyond 2012, but by not ratifying Kyoto we are excluding ourselves from the negotiating table of future agreements.

Labor believes the Kyoto Protocol is important for the economy, for jobs and for the environment.

The beauty of international instruments such as Kyoto is that they provide a platform for clean energy projects.

The Kyoto Protocol does not tell each country what to do. Instead it provides a stimulus for action against climate change and for clean energy.

Instead of being a responsible steward for our environment and our economy, this bill shows the Howard Government has put climate change in the too hard basket.

The Mandatory Renewable Energy Target was announced in 1997 and implemented in 2001, the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target has helped the deployment of renewable energy projects and technologies.

This has meant the 2010 MRET target of 9,500 GWh of generation is likely to be achieved by the end of 2006.

MRET has stimulated the renewable energy industry, subsidiary manufacturing industries and substantial intellectual property rights that are now being used around the world.

The Government should have taken advantage of this bill to increase and extend the MRET target to 2020. The Government’s own Review Panel, headed by former Government Senator Grant Tambling, recommended that:

MRET targets should increase beyond 2010 at a rate equal to the rate before 2010, and to stabilise at 20,000 GWh in 2020.

To understand why this never happened and why renewable energy is being strangled in Australia, you have to look at the politics of renewable energy and the genesis of the Mandatory Renewable Energy target.

When MRET was first announced it was the Government’s stated intention that it would increase the market share of renewable energy generation as a percentage – to increase market share by 2%.

This is what the Government said:

On the eve of the third Conference of the Parties (COP3) under the framework convention on climate change, the Prime Minister announced that `targets will be set for the inclusion of renewable energy in electricity generation by the year 2010. Electricity retailers and other large electricity buyers will be legally required to source an additional 2% of their electricity from renewable or specified waste-product energy sources by 2010’.

(Senator Ian Campbell, Second Reading Speech, Renewable Energy (Electricity) Bill 2000, Hansard 14 August 2000).

Senator Campbell on MRET (Hansard 14 Aug 2000):

‘And what else does this mean for Australia? It means jobs, particularly in regional areas.’

However in its design MRET became a Gigawatt Hour (GWh) target rather than a percentage of market-share.

That is, by making the target a Giga-Watt-Hour target rather than as a percentage of electricity generated, the target became a dead target.

The result is that market share of renewable energy in 2010 will by approximately 10.5% - exactly the same as it was in 1997.

In other words, MRET hasn’t increased the market share of renewable energy, it has simply enabled it to keep pace with our growing demand for energy.

The question is how we move forward and avoid dangerous climate change.

The answer, or at least part of the answer, is through clean energy solutions such as renewable energy.

Dangerous climate change can be avoided, but to do so we need to take strong, decisive, smart action now.

The Howard Government sees no contradiction in proclaiming that Australia will meet the Kyoto target – while also claiming that ratification would destroy economic growth.

The Howard Government signs the vision statement of the Asia Pacific Partnership, which concludes it “will complement, but not replace, the Kyoto Protocol” - but then Senior Ministers proceed to trash Kyoto.

The Government is playing games and deliberately sending conflicting messages to different audiences.

The Government is two-faced on climate change.

Avoiding dangerous climate change is too important to be hostage to the Government’s spin.

There needs to be action. We can avoid dangerous climate change if we take smart, prudent action.

Determining when to act is often as important as determining how to act. Clearly the time to act is now.

Fossil fuels are a finite resource and the reality is that we are running out of time much faster than we are running out of fossil fuels.

Even George Bush has finally recognised what is happening to our planet and has acknowledged that we need to do something about it.

We know the challenge and most importantly we know enough to act now.

We need to confront the problem immediately and head on. The stakes are too high. That is why the bill before us today is so weak. And that was why the Budget was such a disappointment.

This is not about jobs verses the environment as the Howard government would have us believe. That is a false and unproductive debate.

Indeed, strong action is vital for our economic future.

It has been continuously frustrating to watch the Howard government sidetrack and muddy the debate on this issue.

The Howard Government’s approach is very high risk. It puts all our eggs in one basket.

It denies the expansion of technologies already available – solutions that are already tried and tested – such as solar energy or wind energy.

What is needed from Government are drivers of technology change and policies which promote the take up of renewable energy.

The bill before the House is tinkering with administrative arrangements for renewable energy when greater investment and action is required.

Our region holds many exciting investment possibilities yet only with a global mindset can there be the necessary transfer of know how and technical expertise to see a world-wide clean, renewable energy network.

Partnerships in our region have the potential to unlock huge economic and environmental opportunities for our nation.

With the necessary mechanisms and support it is clear that the renewable energy industry can become the focal point for our region.

Indeed, our full participation in the global network is essential to unlocking environmental and economic growth opportunities.

The Howard Government has so far failed to take up this opportunity.

The Government has left us unprepared for the impacts of climate change.

We have the potential for a stronger renewable energy industry, yet the government’s inaction has instead seen our jobs go overseas and our market isolated.

The Howard Government’s refusal to sign the Kyoto protocol rendered the future of our renewable energy industry vulnerable.

The technologies are there. They are proven and available solutions – these are not far distant notions.

We are blessed with natural resources in this vast country of ours.

Fossil fuels, yes. But also a vast wealth of renewable resources.

We have been dealt a good hand, but we need to play our cards well.

Diversification of our energy sources is essential.

We have to ensure that we spread the risk and invest in a range of technologies, as well as looking at energy efficient technologies that reduce our overall demand.

Labor will announce an ambitious renewable energy target closer to the election.

Labor’s MRET target will be a significant increase, but definitely achievable.

I believe we can and must reach further, to ensure the success of our renewable industry, for our economy and jobs at home and for the prosperity and sustainability of this country.

In Germany, the use of renewables has grown from 4-9% in just 6 years.

Conservative Opposition leader Angela Merkel has quickly realised that tens of thousands of jobs would be threatened if this commitment was wound back.

Renewable targets should be viewed in the context of overall emissions reduction targets.

The UK has already set itself a target of a 60% emissions reduction by 2050, as has New South Wales.

These are the kind of aims - this is the kind of vision and leadership that is needed to meet the challenge.

Labor stands for a strong economy, creating wealth and security for all Australians.

And Labor understands that environmental progress is a necessary component of economic prosperity.

We will work with the renewable energy industry to ensure it gets the support that it deserves.

Our very future depends on it.

I move:

At the end of the motion add “but the Senate condemns the Howard Government’s complacency over climate change and calls on the Government to:

(a)

join the established global framework for action against climate change and ratify the Kyoto Protocol;

(b)

establish a national emissions trading scheme so Australians can minimise the cost of adjusting to a carbon constrained economy and enjoy the economic opportunities arising from the global carbon trading market under the Kyoto Protocol;

(c)

ratify the Kyoto Protocol and therefore allow Australian companies to benefit from the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation provisions which encourage and reward renewable energy projects;

(d)

work towards a long-term target of 60 per cent cuts to Australia’s year 2000 levels of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050;

(e)

increase Australia’s investment in proven renewable energy technologies by substantially increasing the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target;

(f)

support greater incentives for the research and development of renewable energy; and

(g)

support measures to improve energy efficiency, such as making an effective five star building code the national standard for new homes, and developing partnerships with energy utilities so that they do not just sell electricity and gas but also help people use less energy and cut their bills”.