Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to speak on the third interim report of the Senate Select Committee into the Scrutiny of Government Budget Measures. I rise today to strongly commend the budget measures committee report of the inquiry into Tasmania's energy crisis. I agree wholeheartedly with the contribution from Senator Brown just a moment ago. The clear message that came through in this inquiry was that in the midst of the most serious energy crisis our state has faced, the state Liberal government has been asleep at the wheel. Not only that, but they have hidden information, they have failed to keep industry informed and they have sacked staff and decommissioned the Tamar Valley Power Station—a vital energy security pillar. In addition, they gagged Hydro Tasmania's executives from appearing at the inquiry in an attempt to avoid scrutiny. The minister himself gave testimony to the inquiry which blatantly contradicted documents released under freedom of information.

As Senator Brown mentioned, the repercussions of this mismanagement could be felt for years to come. The crisis has compromised the reputation of Tasmanian businesses, and the bill to the taxpayers could potentially exceed $400 million. There is no doubt that there are very serious questions that are yet to be answered. I absolutely support the committee's recommendations for an independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the crisis.

But today I want to focus specifically on recommendation 4 of the report, which calls for the Tasmanian government to support projects that would increase renewable energy generation in the state. You would imagine that, given the recent Tasmanian experience, any government would be pulling out all the stops to future-proof our energy supply. You would want to hope the state Liberals would be doing absolutely everything they could to fast-track renewable projects and lock in extra capacity in our energy network, but you would be wrong. In fact, the Tasmanian Liberals already have a ready approved renewables project that they could get up and running with very little difficulty. It is a project that energy minister, Mr Groom, has said for months that he supports, and it is a project that he has done absolutely nothing to progress, even though it is well within his power to do so.

The project is the Granville Harbour wind farm on Tasmania's west coast. The wind farm truly is a golden opportunity. It will generate around 350 gigawatt hours of clean energy and, in doing so, abate more than 130,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. This is equivalent to taking more than 30,000 cars off the road—an impressive outcome indeed. Not only that but the project will also create 200 much-needed west coast jobs in the construction phase, and, of course, help to protect the stability of Tasmania's energy supply into the future.

Intensive environmental, heritage, engineering and survey work has already been done, and all the necessary approvals are in place. Westcoast Wind director, Alex Simpson, has already said that if work started soon we could see more renewable power hitting the grids by the end of next year. Sadly, there is one important thing that is standing in the way of this vital energy project: a sustainable power purchase agreement with Hydro Tasmania or Aurora. Without this agreement investors will simply not sign up. The onus to get this project over the line rests solely on the shoulders of Minister Matthew Groom.

As energy minister, he could direct that Hydro Tasmania and Aurora must deliver a sustainable power purchase agreement. That is exactly what he needs to do and the state government now has a very clear choice. It can put Tasmania in a situation where we continue to import dirty coal from Victoria and rely on generators if another crisis occurs or keep money and jobs in the state with a long-term sustainable power purchase agreement for clean, green Tasmanian energy. Today, I call on Mr Groom to act in the best interests of our environment, our economy and the west coast community. While Mr Groom's stated support for the Granville Harbour wind farm project may make him sleep better at night, it means absolutely nothing without strong action to get the project over the line. Right now, Mr Groom needs to step-up and broker a sustainable power purchase agreement as a matter of urgency.