Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to this matter of public importance and to the Commonwealth government's track record on energy, climate change and emissions reduction. We on this side understand how important it is to have coordinated global effort to reduce emissions. Overcoming these challenges is a shared responsibility, and we are playing our part. Australia has a strong 2030 target and, unlike many countries, we are going to beat that target, just like we beat our 2020 target by 459 million tonnes. Between 2005 and 2019 Australia's emissions fell faster than those of Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Korea and the United States. We are committed to the Paris Agreement and its goals as well as to achieving net zero emissions as soon as possible, preferably by 2050. We need to reach this target as soon as possible, but we need to ensure that regional Australia does not shoulder a majority of the burden. Regional Australians need assurances that their economic wellbeing will be protected in a move to net zero. Our government will do this through our Technology Investment Roadmap.

Our plan is driven by technology, not taxes. Our commitment is clear—lower prices and keeping the lights on while doing our bit to reduce global emissions without wrecking the economy—and we are seeing results. We've already committed around $1.4 billion to help increase the uptake of low- and zero-emissions vehicle technologies. Through our Technology Investment Roadmap, we are backing the next generation of technologies that will deliver lower emissions, lower costs and more jobs. These are technologies like clean hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, low emissions steel and aluminium industries, healthy soils and energy storage. Over the next 10 years we will invest $20 billion in these technologies. This will drive at least $80 billion of total public and private investment and will support at least 160,000 new jobs.

Australia's experience has been that when new technologies become economically competitive they are rapidly adopted by Australian businesses and households, including in regional communities. We are seeing that happen right now, with the adoption of renewables in Australia at 10 times the global average and four times higher than in China, Japan, the US and Europe. One in four homes in Australia have adopted solar—one of the highest rates in the world per capita. We have played a significant role in sharing this knowledge around the world.

Our government will continue to support the kind of innovation that will help us solve this global challenge. That's why we have developed our Technology Investment Roadmap. In my electorate of Mallee the Commonwealth government has invested $15 million in a solar hydro power plant at Carwarp. This innovative project will help to solve the challenge of storing excess renewable energy. The Commonwealth government's Clean Energy Finance Corporation has also financed several major solar farms in the electorate, including in Kerang, Bannerton and Wemen, as well as Victoria's largest solar farm—the 200-megawatt Kiamal solar farm near Mildura. Taken together, the projects have the capacity to power over 220,000 homes. The projects in the Murray renewable energy zone in the north have been mapped by the Australian Energy Market Operator, encompassing more than 640 megawatts of solar-generation developments.

To fully harness the power of renewables in our nation we need to focus on improvements to Australia's energy grid, and we are. That's why our government is investing in game-changing transmission projects, including the Western Victoria Transmission Network Project and the VNI West, both in Mallee. These projects will greatly benefit the renewables sector in Mallee. Their construction gives the private sector the confidence to invest in new renewables projects, as they know that our grid will support further generation. For example, RES Australia are constructing the massive Murra Warra wind farm just north of Horsham in my electorate. This is slated to be one of the largest wind farms in the country, and it wouldn't be viable without the Western Victoria Transmission Network Project. Mallee is positioned to be a national leader in renewables production and a key contributor to Australia's energy generation mix. I see a very exciting future for Mallee.

I want to give a shout-out to our farmers, who are on the front foot in carbon emissions reductions. Indeed they are arguably our best environmentalists. They rely on our environment for their livelihood—it's in their interest—and, in turn, we rely on them for our food and fibre. This government is supporting farmers in Mallee through the agricultural and biodiversity stewardship— (Time expired)

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