Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate the fact that by backending the system, so to speak, hopefully, by the time we get to 2016 we will already have a much higher renewable energy target than we now have and that it ought not matter at that point. As the minister herself has indicated, this sector is moving fast and it is no doubt very difficult for the parliament to even keep acknowledging that. Since this legislation was brought in here only last year, solar systems, for example, have come down in price by 40 per cent. Take us out to 2016, and if we cannot improve substantially on 20 per cent renewable energy by then then we are not doing our job. Frankly, we should be moving to a target of 100 per cent renewables as quickly as possible. I am delighted to say that today a report was released in this parliament by Beyond Zero Emissions, based at Melbourne university, outlining how you may achieve 100 per cent renewables in a decade, by 2020. We have a way to go beyond 20 per cent to get to 100 per cent by 2020. So I am not too concerned about backending the system in the way the minister is suggesting, because we will be reviewing this target much sooner and no doubt we will achieve the level of ambition that I think many people in this country, and the Greens of course, support. Therefore, Madam Chair, since the government is addressing this issue of the banked RECs and putting in a threshold of 20 million—I would have liked it to have been less—nevertheless it is dealing with the issue, I seek leave to withdraw Australian Greens amendment (2) on sheet 6114.

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