Perin Davey (NSW, National Party, Shadow Minister for Water) Share this | Hansard source

As I rise, I just want to correct Senator Green on her false claim that the Liberals and Nationals are antirenewable. We are far from antirenewable. We are absolutely aware that renewables need to be part of the mix. We're also aware that there are renewable projects that are so far down the track that it would be remiss not to complete them. But we do propose bringing nuclear into the mix, because nuclear will deliver and will counter exactly some of the concerns that Senator Van has raised—that is, it will put the source of power close to the use of power. Our proposal to put nuclear energy plants by existing transmission lines, replacing and transitioning coal-fired power plants, is not only a smart use of the infrastructure that exists; it's also a smart use of the workforce that exists. So I, too, would like to thank Senator Van for raising this very prudent issue.

Let's look at time. The government—I was going to call them the opposition; I certainly hope they are so after the next election—claim that they will get to an 80-plus per cent renewable target by 2030, that it's cheap and that it has no negative impacts. I would say that that is a lie in itself. All renewable energy zone projects are currently running behind time. If you look at just the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone in New South Wales as an example, the costs have skyrocketed. Under the former New South Wales government, the estimate was that it was going to cost $650 million for that zone to add three gigawatts of power to the energy market. When you actually add in the cost of the transmission lines that are required to connect that zone to where the power is going to be used, the cost is now $3.2 billion to connect 4.5 gigawatts into the system.

Why are there cost blowouts there? It is because the Labor government has not been honest with the people about the cost of transmission lines and about the time it takes to get the development applications, easements and routes negotiated for transmission lines. They're also not honest about the number of trees that need to get bulldozed, the environmental degradation of building those transmission lines and the fact that they are riding roughshod over traditional owners, farmers, fishers and regional communities to try and put these massive transmission lines right across regional Australia. If that's the cost blowout we're seeing in just one renewable energy zone, then imagine the others. In New South Wales alone, we've also got New England, Illawarra, Hunter and the South-West. If they're all going to go up by around 300 per cent, what is the true cost to the Australian people of this 'all eggs in one basket' renewable energy intermittent power supply unicorn that the Labor government is chasing?

Labor wants us to be all renewables, which is an expensive ambition. They keep talking about the time it will take to build nuclear. Well, let us get on with it. We'll show you that we can have nuclear built in a reasonable amount of time, have it built to budget and have it be part of an honest energy mix that will provide secure baseload power, which is what our industries need.

It's fair enough for Australians to put solar on their rooftops and have a household battery. But when we are talking about keeping our aluminium smelters and our large industries going, they need secure baseload power. They cannot rely on intermittent power. Senator Van was absolutely right when he mentioned South Australia and the fact that, while they claim to be 100 per cent renewable, their battery only lasts about half an hour. I thank Senator Van for raising this very important topic.