David Van (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A net zero transition provides Australia with abundant opportunity, but because of the fallacy that net zero equals zero emissions, the common debate around emissions reduction has been tarnished by this government's political opponents, who either do not understand or wilfully ignore the fact that, in a net zero future, there will still be emissions generated.

The only way that many developed states will reach the net zero target is by purchasing carbon offset credits and through the use of nuclear power. The use of abatement credits allows these states to quickly and cheaply slash their emissions without having to invest in the structural change that takes time to take effect and that actually cuts emissions. This approach can be described as little more than greenwashing on an international scale. They are already purchasing carbon offset credits from countries around the globe. This is in stark contrast to Australia's approach, where we have built structural changes into our energy systems and our other industries economy-wide that will actually bring down emissions and have been bringing down emissions on a scale that most other countries can only dream about. This provides Australia with a unique economic opportunity, because we are developing the technology to reach net zero and will have abundant potential to sell offset credits to those other nations. This practice is already underway in Australia through the Emissions Reduction Fund, which is going from strength to strength. This year the 1,000th project was registered and the millionth tonne of abatement was credited.

I want to be clear that Australia should be emitting as little as possible as it approaches its low-emissions targets. However, we should be working to become an economic powerhouse in selling carbon credits, and we are developing the technology that will fuel a low-emissions economy.

In the transition to net zero, we should not be abandoning the exports that underpin our regions. We should be acknowledging the fact that net zero is not zero emissions. It's the difference between giving big parts of agriculture, heavy manufacturing and resources no future and giving them a bright future. For these sectors of our economy that support thousands of jobs and play a vital role in Australian society, we need to ensure that in a net zero economy they are able to thrive. The market is already adjusting to a future where coal is no longer the main source of energy generation, but that is not going to happen overnight. Until it is no longer needed, coalmining must continue to support our economy and continue to provide good jobs for thousands of Australians.

The transition to net zero provides Australia with bountiful economic opportunities. Our technology-not-taxes approach ensures that the Australian economy will continue to thrive in this transition as we drive down emissions. Investing in the development of low- and no-emissions technologies will not only help Australia reach net zero but also, importantly, help our friends and partners around the world reach net zero. By driving down the cost to produce low- or no-emissions energy sources, developing countries will no longer have to make the choice between emissions reduction and development. These two processes go hand in hand.

Emissions reduction is a global challenge. Only by driving down the costs of clean alternatives—such as producing hydrogen at less than $2 a kilo or producing green aluminium at under $2,700 per tonne and green steel at under $900 per tonne—will these low-emission options be competitive with the traditional alternatives.

At these prices, low-emission alternatives would be available for everyone, not just Australia. Australia will become an exporter of these low-emission alternatives. These technologies will allow the globe's transition to a low-emissions economy. It is only through a global effort that this can be achieved. Developing these technologies, which our energy Technology Investment Roadmap clearly sets out, will allow Australia to remain a net exporter of energy; it will just be a different type of energy. This will ensure that the benefits of the coal export boom that we've seen recently will not be lost, and we will continue to reap the benefits of selling energy to states around the world. Similar to the LNG gas revolution which saw Australia become the second largest LNG exporter in the world, I see no reason why we cannot be a global low-emissions hydrogen or green steel exporter.

The energy transition towards net zero presents Australia with vast opportunities that we should be grasping with two hands. It is clear from the Technology Investment Roadmap that work is well underway in Australia to support an economy that is not reliant on coal, both as a source of energy and income. The Technology Investment Roadmap sets out our priority low-emissions technologies and the economic stretch goals. Those priority low-emissions technologies that have been identified are: clean hydrogen; energy storage; low-carbon materials, such as steel and aluminium; carbon capture and storage; and soil carbon.

In our efforts to reach clean hydrogen under $2 per kilogram, the conservative estimates for our National Hydrogen Strategy indicate that a domestic industry could generate over 8,000 jobs and $11 billion a year in GDP. But this is not going to happen overnight. We have phases that we're going to go through while we achieve this. At the moment, blue hydrogen is a competitive energy source, but we are working hard to get green hydrogen under that price. That will likely take 10 years, but we should be doing that work now. The exporting of our coal is funding the investments that need to go into that. It's a $1.9 billion investment package into new energy technologies, which includes commitments that will support hydrogen, including $1.6 billion in new funding for ARENA; a $74.5 million future fuels package; and a $70.2 million fund to activate regional hydrogen export hubs. This will build on over $500 million committed towards hydrogen projects by the government at the launch of the National Hydrogen Strategy. Establishing hydrogen as a priority technology and working towards this stretch goal will reinforce these commitments and ensure Australia can capture a significant share of the growing global export demand for this technology.