Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

I, and also on behalf of Senator Waters, move:

That the Industry Research and Development (Bankable Feasibility Study on High-Efficiency Low-Emissions Coal Plant in Collinsville Program) Instrument 2020, made under the Industry Research and Development Act 1986, be disallowed [F2020L00772].

There is one party in this chamber that wants Queenslanders to pay more for their electricity and their name is the Liberal National Party. This government's preference for endless culture wars and stunts over real policy and real outcomes has seen them brush aside every conceivable concern with the proposed new coal-fired power station in Collinsville. They've brushed aside concerns about whether the business case stacked up. They've brushed aside concerns about the environment. They've brushed aside concerns about whether it will raise energy prices and they've brushed aside concerns about the probity of the project. It makes you wonder, doesn't it, what would happen if they showed the same commitment to protecting older Australians in aged care as they have shown to progressing a project that even the Queensland LNP opposition doesn't believe deserves public funds.

This project does not stack up economically, and if it goes ahead it will increase power prices for Queenslanders and leave taxpayers on the hook for billions. This isn't back-of-the-envelope analysis; it is the considered opinion of industry and experts. The weight of analysis says that new coal-fired power stations in Queensland would increase power prices, because they are more expensive to build and more expensive to run than alternatives.

Independent analysis undertaken by consultants Energy Edge found a new ultra-supercritical coal-fired power station was only commercially viable if there were high wholesale prices—and let that sink in, because that's what these people are arguing for. It reflects what analysts have been saying generally about new coal-fired power. Bloomberg New Energy Finance says:

But even if the government were to completely de-risk coal by paying for the whole plant and guaranteeing an exemption from any future liabilities, the lowest LCOE that could be achieved is … still well above wind, solar or gas.

AIG says:

… new coal-fired generators are unlikely to bring current prices down because they require even higher prices to be bankable; they are a poor fit to stabilise the grid …

Why don't we have a look at what the Prime Minister said? What did Mr Morrison say when he was the Treasurer? He said:

… we shouldn't kid ourselves a new HELE plant would bring down electricity prices anytime soon.

And why? Because, as Mr Morrison went on to say:

…new cheap coal is a bit of a myth.

Those are his words, not mine. So not only is the government putting almost $4 million of taxpayer's funds to investigate the feasibility of what the Prime Minister has described as a myth; the public could be on the hook for billions more for this project.

Shine Energy have requested that the government provide an indemnity against climate risk and the Australian Industry Group has estimated that this could cost the government $17 billion. That would be on top of whatever other contribution of public money would be required to actually build this multibillion-dollar project.

Senator Canavan and others supporting this project should be up-front with Australians about just how much it will cost them. That is only if the plant ends up being built. And the government knows that the project doesn't stack up, is unlikely to be built and the promised jobs will not materialise. Senator Canavan and others are out there in the media saying that a new coal-fired power plant will generate jobs for Queensland. Well, it's not what his colleagues think. Mr Zimmerman, Mr Sharma and Mr Falinski have all gone on the record to say that the project does not stack up economically or environmentally and it won't go ahead. As Mr Falinski says:

… it will not lead to a new coal-fired power station being built.

There are more economically efficient and environmentally cleaner options for power generation in Australia.

It's backed up by the analysis from the Australian Energy Council—that is, the peak body for electricity generators and retailers—who found that there was not a pressing commercial case for the construction of a coal-fired generator in North Queensland.

In fact, the government came to a very similar conclusion. This government has a specific program to underwrite new generation investment, and when this project submitted its business case it wasn't strong enough even to be shortlisted, let alone offered a grant. How did the government get around this? Minister Taylor's department announced that Shine would get a grant for a feasibility study into Collinsville and then two days later invited the company to apply for the grant.

It's the reversal of the usual order of things, isn't it? Normally, you invite applications and then you announce the results. It's unusual enough that the Auditor-General has agreed to investigate it, meaning that Minister Taylor's actions are subject to yet another probity investigation, an experience he must be deeply familiar with by now. Even the Queensland LNP opposition has declined to commit public funds for the project.

Those opposite are playing a cruel hoax on the people of Queensland. The promised jobs do not exist. They exist in the press releases, stunts and media statements of those opposite. Listen to what Mr Zimmerman, Mr Sharma and Mr Falinski have said, because they have been clear. They have said that this project does not stack up and will never proceed.

But there are jobs in energy for North Queensland and, indeed, across Australia. They are real jobs being generated by real investments in renewable energy right now. In Queensland 40 large-scale renewable projects have commenced operations, are currently being constructed or have been financially committed. There are solar parks in Wide Bay, Darling Downs, Mackay, Chinchilla, Clare, Barcaldine, Clermont, Toowoomba and Warwick. There are even renewable projects in Collinsville, the site of this ill-fated new proposal. The projects across the state total $7.5 billion in investment, with a forecast of more than 6,000 construction jobs arising as a result. And there are more large-scale projects in the pipeline—more than 20 megawatts worth—which have the potential to generate another 28,000 jobs for Queenslanders.

Just last week the state government committed hundreds of millions for renewable energy zones, and this could help fund projects such as a two-gigawatt wind, solar, storage and transmission project dubbed the Central Queensland Power project, which will assist Gladstone with supporting its heavy industry and stimulating the development of new industries such as green hydrogen.

Renewables have the potential to create export income as well. An undersea cable from a planned major solar farm project in the Northern Territory could supply Singapore with sustainable energy by 2027. It has been described as the largest solar farm and battery under development anywhere in the world. It's not a pipedream; it's been granted major project status by the Northern Territory government.

The thing is that Australia's rich natural resources give us the opportunity to be a renewable energy superpower, exporting into our region. You'd think that would be of interest to a government that claims to be interested in jobs, but they are obsessed with a feasibility study for a power station that doesn't stack up. What more can you expect from a man who found time to bring a lump of coal into parliament as a stunt and who leads a party that has had 19 separate energy policies in seven years? The government's lack of an energy policy is projected to cost this country 11,000 renewable energy jobs in the next two years.

Enough is enough. The government has shown over the last seven years that they are indifferent to our international commitments, they are ambivalent about the risks that climate change poses to our natural world and our way of life and they are hostile to renewable energy. They are environmental vandals and they can add economic vandals to their CV as well. The government's obsession with stunts will raise electricity prices for Queensland and cost the nation thousands of jobs in renewables.