Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader (Tasmania)) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week was a significant week for the future of our country and the future of energy generation across Australia. Labor proudly did what this government has been unable to do over the last five years—that is, announce a credible energy policy. You would think any Western democracy—or any democracy, for that matter—would have an energy policy. But, no, not the Australian Liberal government, because none of those opposite can agree on a policy position. It is absolute incompetence and recklessness that they cannot move past the internal division within their party for the good of Australia's economic future. We know Mr Morrison supports privatising electricity assets and that he opposes a 50 per cent Renewable Energy Target. Any economist worth their salt knows that not securing an energy future is poor economics. It places our national economy in no-man's-land when the world is moving every day to a renewable energy future. As a people, as a country, we need to meet the challenges of the future, and there is no more significant challenge than transitioning to renewable energy over the coming decades.

Bill Shorten and Labor have not been a small-target opposition. We have a plan for Australia's future, which is why our $15 billion program for driving the transformation in Australia's energy system to low emissions is a fundamental policy for Australia's future. Labor's energy policy is not only about securing Australia's long-term economic future; it will be good for households and good for the environment. A sustainable future is smart economics, and it's security for current and future generations. Australia has been in energy crisis under the Liberals and this has to change for the good of our nation. Power bills are out of control, pollution is rising and, if we leave energy policy to the rabble opposite, Australia will continue to be without a policy.

Labor's preference is for bipartisanship on energy and climate policy. That's why the National Energy Guarantee should stay on the table. But, while we will work with the Liberals, we won't wait for them. So we've put out the hand to say, 'Come and join us and work with us, but we're not going to stand still and wait for you to catch up.' Labor have a clear plan, a plan that will move us forward with more renewable energy and cheaper power prices. This includes investing in renewable energy, with a plan to: deliver 50 per cent of power through renewables by 2030; end the power privatisation mess by stopping incentives to privatise electricity assets; stop overcharging by power companies through regulating prices and implementing gas export controls; futureproof the energy network with new interconnectors, pipelines and transmission links; and plan the transition to renewables, helping workers and communities as ageing coal plants reach the end of their technical life and are replaced with renewables. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation will have a funding injection of $10 billion to lead the clean energy transition.

In the next 10 years, the share of renewable energy in the market will increase and coal generation will transition out of the market. An integrated system plan through the Australian Energy Market Operator will be vital for transforming the energy system. Renewable energy zones will be created, with investment in new generation and transmission infrastructure and in firming technologies, such as batteries and gas-fired peaking plants. There are many more potential projects across the nation, including upgrades to interconnectors, such as a second connection across Bass Strait to develop Tasmania's Battery of the Nation project. Transition within the energy sector is crucial, which is why Labor will set up a $10 million training fund to skill workers in the coal-fired power sector to work in renewable energy. A clean energy future is here now, and the future can be bright if we transition now.

My home state of Tasmania can be a renewable energy leader—we have been in the past and we can be in the future. We have already displayed these credentials with our hydroelectric generation, our new pumped-hydro schemes and our wind farm initiatives at Musselroe Bay. I have faith in Tasmanians and I believe Tasmanians can manufacture quality solar panels for global consumption alongside important energy infrastructure. We must do everything in our power to secure a renewable energy future now. It's good for people, it's good for our environment, it's good for families, and it's good for our economy.

At a state level, not enough is being done to encourage people to get off the grid and be self-sufficient. Understandably, governments are obsessed with revenue. I know the Tasmanian Liberal government certainly is. The current solar feed-in tariff in Tasmania is at just over 8.9c per kilowatt-hour for electricity exported to the mains grid. Government should be incentivising further installations and rewarding systems that are already installed. Those Tasmanians who installed solar panels prior to September 2013 were grandfathered at a feed-in tariff commitment of 28c and were not allowed to upgrade their systems if they wanted to keep that rate. This shows how out of touch the Liberal state government in Tasmania is. They should have been giving bigger incentives for people to invest in solar power. This plan is set to end on 31 December this year, which is not good policy for encouraging people to stick with solar. This rate should be adopted across the board, and individuals should be permitted to upgrade their systems.

If we want to transition, which we on this side of the chamber do, then we should be encouraging. We should be giving incentives for families to invest in solar. We should be giving incentives for businesses to make that transition. That's the responsibility of the federal government. That's the responsibility of our state governments. And it's very regrettable that in Tasmania the Liberal government is so short-sighted that it is going to reduce that tariff and take away the incentive for those who have already invested in solar. I urge this government to come on board, to get into the 21st century and to realise that clean energy is the way of the future. Renewable energy is the way of the future.

Tasmania has always had a proud history of being innovative. We've been innovative with the hydroelectric scheme. We're being innovative with wind energy. There's research into wave energy. We need to ensure that Tasmanian companies are encouraged to invest in renewable energy moving forward. This federal government, which is so divided around the issue of climate change and renewable energies, needs to get into the 21st century. It needs to give incentives. It needs to work with us to ensure that we have the future Australians deserve. Government should be doing everything in its power to encourage people to invest in household renewable energy. That's the way of the future, and I appeal to those on the opposite side to put their differences aside, to do what's best for this country, to do what's best for Australian families, to do what's best for the environment and certainly to do what's best for the economy.