Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Bill 2021. This bill establishes a regulatory framework for offshore electricity infrastructure to, finally, allow the construction of offshore wind and other electricity infrastructure. This bill is so long overdue. It has been delayed by the chaos and the division of this government—chaos and division which has delayed this very vote, delayed a real climate action plan and delayed the good, secure jobs that this new industry will deliver.

There are a dozen offshore wind proposals around the country at various stages of readiness, just waiting for this long overdue step from the government. These delays are completely unacceptable because this is a global race. There is a global race on to bring the opportunities of the global transition to green energy right here to Australia. It's a global race that we are at risk of losing because of this government and because of the division in this government, which is holding the jobs of the future to ransom. The first of these projects that is absolutely ready to seize this moment in time is in my home state of Victoria. It's the Star of the South project in Gippsland—a region that is crying out for the jobs of the future and crying out for this government to take swift action to deliver those jobs of the future. The Star of the South project will provide 20 per cent of Victoria's energy needs and power 1.2 million homes. It will invest $8.7 billion into Victoria over the project's lifetime, with the significant majority of that investment being in Gippsland and in the Latrobe Valley. Most importantly, this project will create jobs in an industry that has a bright future ahead of it.

Just yesterday, we saw the type of leadership and vision that this industry and these communities need, not from our Prime Minister but from the Andrews Labor government. On Tuesday, the Victorian government announced a $40 million funding boost for offshore wind projects in my home state in Victoria. It is the largest single offshore wind announcement in Australian history. Victorian coastlines are amongst the best in the world for these projects, and the Andrews Labor government is positioning Victoria to lead that global race. Meanwhile, the Morrison government hasn't even started running. The Morrison government had the chance to deliver jobs with the Ryan Corner windfarm project to power the Snowy Hydro project. Of course, this government missed that chance. Keppel Prince in Portland is the only manufacturer of wind turbines in Australia, and this manufacturer was primed and ready to provide the turbines to deliver the content for the Snowy Hydro project. But, instead of using local content, local manufacturers and local companies, that project will be using imported products and overseas companies because that is how the Morrison government does its business. This is a decision that has already cost 40 jobs in a small regional town that desperately needs those jobs.

This kind of approach from the Morrison government has the potential to cost so many more jobs in this global race for the renewables jobs of the future. This was a chance for the Morrison government to deliver good jobs in green energy and, like so many opportunities, they squandered it. Instead, they lost those jobs. This is what we can expect from any Morrison government move to a renewable energy future: no commitment to local content and no commitment to local jobs—it's as simple as that. Workers know what they're going to get from this government—a glossy document, but no real plan to deliver the future job opportunities of this global race to Australians.

Unlike this government, Labor have a plan. We have a plan to see Australia become a renewable superpower. A Labor government will invest $20 billion to rewire the grid. We will make electric vehicles cheaper. We will support 10,000 new apprenticeships in the energy trades of the future. We will have 400 community batteries powering 100,000 homes. We will invest $15 billion in a national reconstruction fund, creating exactly these types of jobs and cutting emissions in the process. And we will make sure that our regions are at the centre of this change. We will make sure that our regions are at the centre of this shift to becoming that renewables energy superpower. That is our plan, because we should be a country that makes things here and because we need to win the global race to bring the jobs of the future right here to Australia.