Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Abetz, the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources. Is the minister aware that the Prime Ministerial Task Group on Emissions Trading recommends abolishing the Victorian Renewable Energy Target scheme, which is aimed at generating 10 per cent of the state’s power from renewable sources by 2016? Does the government support this recommendation? Isn’t the solar power plant proposed for Mildura—in part funded by the government—relying on the VRET to be viable? Haven’t there been 10 projects announced under the scheme already with a total capacity of over 1,000 megawatts and generating hundreds of construction and ongoing regional jobs? Wouldn’t the abolition of the VRET put a stop to all of these projects?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The very quick answer is simply no. Of course it would not because the Australian government has been investing substantially in renewable energy technologies without requiring mandatory renewable energy targets. My fellow Tasmanians, for example, would be fully aware that the Tasmanian Labor government will be increasing energy prices by about 15 per cent. On top of that, federal Labor would increase their energy prices even further through their ill thought out policy of increasing the mandatory renewable energy targets, because mandating will require that every consumer of energy within Australia pay a higher power bill.

Labor may parade to the workers and pensioners of this country some feigned concern for their circumstances, but their Green-Labor accord type of policies will in fact have workers and pensioners out of pocket every time they pay their power bills. We as an Australian government are concerned to ensure that we get a sensible renewable energy policy right around Australia so that we do not have Victoria on eight per cent and New South Wales with another target and somebody else with another target. The Prime Minister’s task force—

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What’s your target? You don’t have a target at all.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I indicate to the senator that we agree with the recommendation of that task force that the renewable energy targets will increase energy prices for all Australians in a way that would help ambush the economy and also the pockets of every single Australian and, most importantly, our manufacturing sector, which Mr Rudd pretends to champion. This is a great lesson for the Australian Labor Party: you cannot just pick policies because they sound good; they actually have flow-on consequences. The Labor policy on renewable energy targets would be very damaging to the manufacturing sector and to every single energy consumer within this country.

We have said consistently that we will take a good, sensible approach to these matters, as witnessed by the fact that we established the Australian Greenhouse Office some 10 years ago. We are continuing with good, sound investment in the renewable energy sector, such as the solar city policy and the rebate and assistance for homeowners that even the hapless Mr Garrett did not quite understand when he sought to ask my colleague Mr Turnbull a question in the parliament a couple of weeks ago. We have a comprehensive policy that is based on rigour and robustness and not cheap slogans that are an attempt to get Australian Greens preferences.

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I ask the minister to also confirm that, in the absence of the VRET and the New South Wales based renewable energy scheme, Australia will go backwards in terms of the proportion of energy coming from renewable sources in the period to 2020. When so many other countries are committing to higher renewable energy targets, why has the Howard government refused to lift its two per cent MRET?

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He doesn’t know.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In fact, I do know, Senator Brown. The simple fact is that we as a government have invested heavily in renewable energy. That means that we will not be going backwards. We have, for example, put $50 million into International Power for its ‘Hazelwood 2030 A Clean Coal Future’ project and up to $75 million into Solar Systems Australia for its ‘Large Scale Solar Concentrator’ project. We have had a whole host of other investments as well, multimillions of dollars worth—in fact, if I recall correctly, something like $960 million worth of investment. That is the sort of thing that we need, not mandating, which will force increased power charges on every single Australian and on the manufacturing sector. We need the investment so that the renewable energy sector can compete in the market. (Time expired)