Wendy Askew (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I believe all Australians want a mature conversation about our country's future energy needs as we commit to and work towards a pathway to net zero. The next decade will be critical for Australians, because 90 per cent of our baseload electricity sources, largely coal-fired power stations, will reach the end of their lives during that time. We need to make tough decisions now to ensure the security of our electricity grid for current and future generations. The Australian community, those who elected us to this place, demand this from us.

But, under the Albanese Labor government, that is not happening. Instead of wanting a constructive conversation, this Labor government has steamrolled us into a renewables-only approach. There are many regional communities across the country, including in my home state of Tasmania, that feel they are being pressured to accept large-scale renewable energy projects without consultation or social licence. A renewables-only approach, relying solely on solar and wind energy generation, has not been achieved in any advanced economy in the world, but Labor wants us to believe that our sun and wind are somehow just better and that we have more access to these resources than every other country.

I want to make something perfectly clear: I'm not against renewables. For me, as a senator for Tasmania, it's quite the opposite. I certainly appreciate the solar panels on my home, and I've been the beneficiary of living in a state powered by renewable energy. Tasmania's hydroelectric schemes have put us on a positive footing in this area and mean we are far less reliant on finite fossil fuels. As Tasmanians, we are rightly proud of our hydroelectric schemes and appreciate the foresight, courage and determination of previous generations in building them. We are a renewable energy leader. But, as you would also understand, we're Australia's smallest state. It's on that basis that I acknowledge that not all states and territories are in the same fortunate position as my home state. I know that in our larger states blackouts and brownouts are becoming and will become increasingly common as increased demand and the shutdown of coal-fired power stations reduce the availability of reliable energy generation. Across the country, large-scale renewable projects like wind farms and solar farms have been lost in regulatory purgatory, in the environmental approvals process or in the Federal Court as communities struggle to grasp the impact these projects have on their communities and agricultural land.

Labor and the coalition are agreed in the pursuit of net zero by 2050, but we fundamentally disagree on how to credibly reach that goal. We need our leaders to stand up and provide meaningful solutions and alternatives to the challenges we face as a nation. Like those leaders of the past who saw the need and built our hydroelectric schemes, Peter Dutton is demonstrating his courageous leadership with the coalition's nuclear power policy. As I mentioned earlier, I believe that Australians are open to a mature conversation about energy and are willing to look at all the options available to us to help us reach this goal, including nuclear energy.

It was therefore disappointing to note that a Labor senator, Senator Polley, recently suggested in an op-ed that Tasmania would become home to a nuclear power plant, demonstrating the fearmongering this government will go to to avoid having a mature debate about our nation's energy security. In the context of Australia's energy needs, Senator Polley's fanciful suggestion does not make economic or logical sense. It only serves as an attempt to drum up fear amongst her constituents—those she represents. It is also a deliberate attempt to misrepresent the coalition's policy, which aims to provide reliable baseload power to complement existing and future renewable energy sources, which include Tasmania's hydropower.

While the Albanese Labor government wants to stoke fear based on outdated assumptions about nuclear energy, the coalition wants to ensure we have safe, secure, reliable and affordable energy for the future. Right now, in households and businesses across the country, Labor's expensive renewables-only approach is failing. Rather than decreasing by $275 as promised during the election, power bills have increased by $1,000 under this Labor government. It is clear that a sensible plan is needed to reduce power prices and secure cheaper, cleaner and consistent energy. The coalition's policy is to replace coal generated power with zero-emissions nuclear power to supplement renewables and gas. It does not come at the expense of renewables, as Senator Polley and the Albanese Labor government would have you believe.

We face a critical decade ahead, where tough decisions will need to be made for the good of current and future generations—our children, our grandchildren. I believe Australians deserve a mature, evidence driven debate about the merits of nuclear technology and not a war of words driven by emotional ideology or a scare campaign based on untruths. The Australian people deserve better.