Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank Senator Payne for this opportunity, for giving this chamber the chance to talk about the Albanese government's comprehensively modelled and thoroughly developed Powering Australia plan. I invite members to have a look at that plan and the modelling rather than throw around baseless emotive accusations.

I want to thank Senator Payne, because I welcome any opportunity to talk about the Labor government's plan to create 604,000 jobs, with five out of every six new jobs to be delivered in the regions. I welcome any opportunity to talk about the $76 billion in investment that will be spurred on by this plan. I welcome any opportunity to outline our plan to deliver 82 per cent renewables by 2030. This means $20 billion to modernise our ageing electricity grid, $3 billion to invest in renewable metals and energy component manufacturing, and 85 new solar banks and 400 community batteries across the country, all of which will be backed in by a shot in the arm to our modern skills base with 10,000 new energy apprentices and a New Energy Skills Program.

Over the last couple of hours, we've heard a lot of debate in this chamber about this. A lot of the argument that I've heard disconnects a range of the policies and looks at them in isolation. The utilisation of renewable energy requires the upgrade in the grid. I say to those opposite, no, the investment in modernising our grid is not a waste. It is not fruitless. It is the sensible plan that should have started long ago to make sure that the cheapest power we can possibly get in this country is delivered in the most efficient way. That is exactly what an Albanese Labor government is going to do. We have laid out the plans. That is what we are going to deliver. That is what will impact those energy prices and the bills that Australians are paying across the country. These are the plans that will make a fundamental difference.

I do not doubt that the chamber and the Australian people would have liked to have known a range of things before the election. Obviously, the outcome is that we are in government on this side of the chamber. The clarity and the honesty should have been there. There were a range of things hidden from the public in the lead-up to the election. The manner in which that was done can only be seen as a political stunt to hide information. There were price rises that were well and truly locked in, but the minister decided not to advise the Australian people of those. The minister decided to hide that information. That information would have told small businesses in New South Wales that their energy prices were about to go up by 19.7 per cent. At the same time, they were saying that they were looking after businesses. I don't think that really can be true. In my own home state of South Australia, domestic or household bills were predicted to go up by 7.2 per cent. Well, of course they weren't going to tell anyone that. And, if you're a Tasmanian, they were going to go up by 11. 8 per cent. So it seems quite obvious that that stunt was purely and utterly political. This is information that is released every year at the same time, apart from this year, when the previous government hid it.

When we start talking about gas, the former energy minister had promised a gas led recovery. What we've actually seen is industry and the community left vulnerable as we faced a global gas crisis. We've seen the lack of a clear policy framework stifle investment and prevent cheaper renewables that could have filled that gap as we were facing this crisis.

When senators opposite talk about energy security and prices, I think the Australian people know not to take them seriously. They know that they are using this as a political plaything. They knew that their signature energy policy, Snowy 2.0, was running 18 months late; they never mentioned that either. The Australian people knew that, when the former government proposed $1 billion to support 3,800 megawatts of new generation, come the election, not one single dollar and not one single kilowatt would have been delivered. The Australian people knew not to trust those opposite to materially provide policy certainty to the Australian community. They trusted us. They trusted an Anthony Albanese Labor government. They trusted us because we have got a plan, and, as the senator opposite's motion indicates, it is a comprehensively modelled plan—well pointed out!—and it is a plan that can be delivered. It's a plan that will ensure that the renewable energy future is very, very bright. We know renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy. This has been proven by CSIRO, AEMO and numerous other sources. It is the cheapest form of energy, and it is the form of energy that we should pursue.

I'm proud to be a South Australian and to have seen the significant leadership in our state by a new Labor government, and they have shown the renewables sector to be a prominent piece in their plan. The opportunity presented now by the joint work of an Albanese federal government and the Malinauskas state government is so exciting, and we're already starting to see that gap being filled, and the hope in our community and in business that the policy malaise is in the past.

I know that regional communities see their future in the renewables industry. Investment in solar, wind, grid-scale battery technology and, notably, for South Australia, hydrogen means that those regional communities have a pathway to lead us out of the uncertainty that has plagued us for years. The excitement that I see when I travel to towns like Whyalla and Port Augusta is palpable. They can see what the opportunities are here, they can see that it's real and they can see that we can deliver on it. The excitement will be underpinned by a very sensible, mature policy approach from the federal and the state governments that will actually look at energy that is stable and affordable and will help boost the industry developments that are planned for those regions and broader regions across Australia. But we know there's no quick fix, and we are taking the short-term and the long-term steps necessary to ensure that we do not again end up where we have been for the last nine, long, obfuscating years.

We've taken the short-term steps necessary to stabilise our gas market. AEMO has taken steps to work with the market, using mechanisms available to ensure gas supply is shifted appropriately between the states to meet demand. The Minister for Resources has announced that the government will improve and extend the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism, as well as progressing a capacity mechanism within the states.

Long term, we have embarked on the policy agenda I outlined earlier, our Powering Australia policy, one that we are all very, very proud of. It is a policy that means the generations that come after us can be confident that we have a secure energy grid, that we have secure plans that are not going to threaten our environment, a policy that makes sure that families, small business and industry can keep the lights on and keep the manufacturing plants running without breaking the bank, a policy that means jobs, particularly in regional communities, that define our communities' character will flourish into the future. That is what Labor brought to the election, and that is what the Australian people wanted.

I thank you for the opportunity to stand here and talk about this matter of extreme public importance and talk to you about the Powering Australia plan—that will deliver. It will deliver stable, reliable, affordable electricity into the future.