Matt Thistlethwaite (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I support the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill 2011 and the related consequential amendments bill. These bills are a very important element of the government's Clean Energy Future program. Yesterday we established finally a price on carbon emissions within our economy. And in doing so we established the architecture for a new era of economic development in our country, an era of development that will see not only emissions in our economy reduce over time but also households, businesses and communities adapt over that process, over that trajectory, to ensure that we are investing in new technology, in new production methods and in new businesses that harness the power of renewable energy.

It also recognises that we make an effective transition to a long-term trajectory of reductions in carbon emissions. To achieve that we must support and invest in research and development, capital production and commercialisation of renewable energy development in this country. We have established the price mechanism to ensure that there is the incentive amongst households and businesses to promote new ventures. These bills ensure that we use some of the revenue generated from the carbon price to support the commercialisation of the technology and the development and investment that will assist in the reduction of emissions in our economy.

Australia has a great tradition of innovation, resourcefulness and entrepreneurship when it comes to new technology and inventions that have reformed the way Australians and the rest of the world communicate and operate. For a population of close to 20 million people we punch well above our weight when it comes to innovation, research and development and the development of new technology throughout the world. The black box flight recorder, the stump-jump plough, the Hills hoist, the refrigerator or solar hot water: these are inventions that Australians have commercialised and revolutionised the way that humans conduct their affairs. We also are leading the way when it comes to harnessing the energy generated from our great natural resources.

I have been fortunate to witness some of those innovations turn from ideas into research and into commercial projects. A small business in the Illawarra has commercialised the use of the power of the coastline in that area, the power of waves, and turned that power into electricity, which is powering homes in the Illawarra. There is Mackay Sugar and their very innovative production techniques associated with refining sugar at their plant in Mackay and their plans to use the by-product of the refining of sugar, the molasses that is created from that process, to process it into ethanol for the future as a renewable fuel source. There is the farmer I met when I attended a carbon farmers conference in Dubbo who informed me of the changes he had made to his tractor that allowed him to capture and refine his diesel emissions and to turn them into a fertiliser that he was using to improve the productive capacity of his land. Australians have a great history of innovation, research and development and I am sure that with proper support through the establishment of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency the possibilities are boundless and we will begin to see Australians develop ways to harness the power that exists in our natural environment and commercialise those for the benefit of not only our own country but the wider world.

Australia is a land of extremes. This was so eloquently described by Dorothea Mackellar: a land of droughts and flooding rains, of damaging winds, of powerful swells, of searing heat. But it is also a nation that has the ability to harness those powers. Due to the sheer size of our great nation, it is not uncommon for such weather events to occur simultaneously. Many view this as a negative. Historically it has been an issue that we have come to adapt to, but it is also an issue that provides an opportunity for our nation—a positive, an ability and a resource that does not exist for other nations as we move into a clean energy future. We have an ability to harness the natural powers that exist throughout our country and turn them into renewable energy sources. And as we enter this new phase with the enactment of this legislation, we can be reassured that the government is supporting ideas, research and development and technology that allow us to harness our natural resources.

The future of our nation and our trajectory to a low emissions country and a thriving economy at the same time depends on our ability to properly harness these natural forces, and it is through independent bodies such as the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, or ARENA, that we will indeed maximise our opportunities to benefit from the clean energy productive capacity of our environment. The decision to establish ARENA was an agreement between the members of the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee, and was announced on 10 July 2011 as a part of the government's Clean Energy Future package. The proposed legislation is established through two bills, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill 2011 and the consequential amendments bill. ARENA will consolidate around $3.2 billion in existing government support for renewable energy technology innovation currently administered by the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, and Australian government funded renewable energy bodies such as the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy and the Australian Solar Institute. ARENA will have the authority to administer around $1.5 billion in current renewable energy technology funding agreements. It will determine its funding strategy and develop and manage programs for funding around $1.7 billion in unallocated funds. It will also have the independent authority to select projects and make binding funding decisions for provision of financial assistance for research, development, demonstration and commercialisation of renewable energy and related technologies, including enabling technologies. Where appropriate, it will share knowledge and information with industry from the projects that it funds.

ARENA's objectives will be to improve the competitiveness of and increase the supply of renewable energy technologies. It will also promote collaboration with state and territory governments to support renewable energy technology innovation. Importantly, ARENA will be independent and will not be subject to direction from government on the particular projects it selects to be awarded funds. The Australian public can be confident in the independence and integrity of this body in the selection of projects that will receive funding. This is just another example of the government working to reassure the public that we are deadly serious about this clean energy future package.

Indeed, this legislation has won support from many of those opposite, including Tony Abbott's resources spokesman, Ian Macfarlane, who was quoted in the Australian newspaper just last week saying that it was 'reassuring' that this agency would provide 'structure for policy and program development in energy and resources'—an endorsement of the government's program in this area and an endorsement of the establishment of this body, one that no-one can deny is positive in nature and will make a real difference to the commercialisation of renewable energy projects and capital in this country.

The establishment of ARENA proves this government is doing what it takes to work with industry to ensure a smooth transition to a prosperous clean energy economy. There is a lot of potential for major advances in renewable energy technologies over the next few decades. Rapid advances in the science and engineering of renewable energy are being made on several fronts. It is our goal to ensure that this continues and that we harness this exciting new industry and the benefits and changes that it will make to our nation and our way of life.

As a father of two young children, I am quite proud of this government. Through legislation such as this we are doing our bit to ensure the good health of our nation and our planet for future generations. We are also investing in new industries and new jobs growth in the new economy. Tackling climate change is something that we must do to ensure that we transform our energy sector. Luckily, we are extremely well placed to do so. We have the landscape, the weather, the know-how and the political will to make the change to a clean energy future. We have a dynamic and competitive private sector. We have abundant resources of renewable energy, from sunshine to wind power to geothermal energy, and we have the wave and tidal power of the oceans surrounding our great nation. With the raft of clean energy legislation that has been enacted and is being enacted, all the pieces of the puzzle are finally falling into place. The architecture is there for us to make the transition from an industrial carbon-polluting economy into a clean energy technology based future. We can now tackle this generational challenge through the transition to a clean energy future. It is through bodies such as the Australian Renewable Energy Agency that this transition will be successful. In this respect, I commend the bills to the Senate.