23 May 2024
Topics: Eraring, Coalition fast-tracking environmental approvals for resources projects
E&OE
Kieran Gilbert:
Let’s go live to Hobart now. Joining me is the shadow environment Minister, Jonno Duniam. Senator, thanks for your time. Big news out of NSW. The extension of the Eraring power station by two years. Do you welcome this announcement for certainty on energy supply?
Senator Duniam:
Well, of course, Kieran, we welcome decisions that keep the lights on and hopefully do go some way to bringing down power prices. But it is, more than anything, not just business as usual. It’s an admission by governments collectively, all of them Labor, that their plan, their ideological pursuit of putting all of their eggs in one basket when it comes to renewables, isn’t working. The transition that we were promised would have occurred – to have as much energy generation in Australia coming from renewable sources by a point in time – isn’t coming to fruition. And so, extending the life of Eraring by a couple of years is necessary. And of course, we welcome that so Australians can continue to operate with the lights on. But it should be a warning sign for this Government that they need to ensure that their plans aren’t driven by ideology but underpinned by science and practicalities are taken into account here. Having this coal fired power station in the grid still is necessary and I hope Chris Bowen sees what he needs to and that is that we can’t just put all our eggs in one basket.
Kieran Gilbert:
Do you believe that this will be extended even further than 2027, Eraring, and possibly other coal power stations as well?
Senator Duniam:
Well, I’d say look at the scoreboard. So far, they failed to roll out their renewables needed to progress this transition to have 80 per cent renewables in the grid by 2030. It’s not happening. So yes, I do believe they will have to keep extending the life of this and other coal-fired assets across the grid. But this just proves that you can’t draw a line through particular technologies, particular sources of energy generation, as Labor have to suit a political aim. People, households across Australia, businesses across Australia, need to have certainty around energy reliability and their decision today to extend Eraring by two years to 2027 recognises that. So, more broadly, Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen need to recognise that across all of their energy policies, they need to make sure that they’re factoring this into what they do. And ruling out things like nuclear as they have and spuriously pointing to reasons why not, rather than opening up for debate on whether we should have nuclear as part of the mix, I think would be the mature approach. Sadly, we don’t have that. It is all renewables and nothing else, and that will end in disaster.
Kieran Gilbert:
Mr Dutton is in WA, as I mentioned, he’s promising to slash environmental approval timeframes for resources projects. Is this about responding to the criticism that the Coalition has copped by not backing the Government’s tax incentives when it comes to critical minerals?
Senator Duniam:
No, this is in response to this Labor Government, having been elected promising to do exactly what it is we’re now mapping a course to do. Tanya Plibersek two years ago said that we would have environmental laws brought in under this Government that would be better for the environment and better for business and neither have eventuated. The laws are supposed to be in Parliament at the end of last year and we have not seen a skerrick of them. So this is about actually doing what needs to be done, what the resources sector for a start is crying out for. When you’ve got resources, projects taking years to get off the ground, and in excess of a decade in some examples, that isn’t good enough. International companies that we want to invest here, that we want to create jobs here are choosing, from their boardrooms wherever they might be, to invest in other countries because our approvals process is so unpredictable and protracted. So, our commitment to work with industry to halve approval times under Federal environmental laws, to defund the activist group, the EDO, amongst other measures, is exactly what industry need. It will create economic activity and it will protect jobs, which is what the Labor Party is failing to do despite all of their promises at the last election.
Kieran Gilbert:
Senator Duniam, appreciate your time on a busy day. Thank you very much for that.