Lisa Singh (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Hansard source

A lot of what Senator Lazarus just spoke about to the Senate the opposition would agree with, in relation to the importance of renewable energy as part of our future—for our planet, for our children and the like. But as for the amendment that is before us, on item 2 of schedule 1, the opposition will not be supporting this amendment. I do want to just point out to Senator Lazarus, though, that there was a bit of condemning there at the beginning. But it is not Labor that has walked away from a bipartisan agreement of 41,000 gigawatt hours; that has been the government. When we went to the last election we thought we were in the position we had been in since 2001: bipartisanship when it came to a renewable energy target. It was the government that walked away from that, so I do not think the opposition can take any blame in this at all. In fact, the opposition has tried to ensure that there is a future for renewable energy in this country. That is why we are in the position of debating the legislation before us. Throughout this entire negotiation we have been guided by advice from the industry on what is best for them. We have reached an agreement with government that will see around 20 to 25 per cent of Australia's energy generation from renewable resources by 2020. In fact, the Clean Energy Council predicts that the revised target of 33,000 gigawatt hours will drive around $40 billion in investment and create more than 15,000 jobs. That is a far better position than we were in when the Abbott government ripped up the bipartisan agreement and created the uncertainty over the last 12 months. What we have before us now will see projects start to be built again, and that is exactly what we need: businesses enjoying certainty that will allow them to assure their staff of job security.

So, Labor is on the record as saying that we will use this reduced target of 33,000 gigawatt hours by 2020 as a base to build on into the future. We will take advice on that from the industry, from business and from economists when considering a strengthened target. Because we will need a strengthened target that is beyond 2020. I agree with Senator Lazarus on 'show me the money' or the evidence in relation to our crossbenches and the deal that has been done by government and the crossbench to create this wind farm commissioner, and the 'sound of music' in Europe and the way so much of the world is moving towards supporting wind energy, solar energy and renewable energy.

It is for some of those reasons that the opposition will not support this amendment. This amendment specifically tries to put a cap on wind energy. We do not want to see that. We want to see all forms of renewable energy grow and be part of this new target. I do commend him on his advocacy in this area, though, and also his own advocacy in his own region on coal-seam gas. I know that he has a lot of concern for the environment, especially in the renewable energy space, but the opposition will not be supporting this particular amendment.