Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

I am interrupted by the question, 'How do you get it up the hill?' This is like three projects we currently have in Australia with pumped hydro. You have a reservoir up the top, a reservoir down the bottom, and you pump it up. When the power is cheap you send it down the hill to create the power when you need it most. It is important to meet the peak demand.

We have also commissioned the Finkel review. The Finkel review, commissioned by COAG, will look at energy security with our Chief Scientist and an independent panel. We look forward to seeing their recommendations.

They are all the positive reforms that we now have underway to get energy security and energy affordability as we transition to a low-emissions future. It is worth pointing out to those opposite that we not only met our first met Kyoto target but we are on track to exceed our second 2020 target by some 224 million tonnes. We have halved the ask over the last year as to what we need to do to meet our 2030 target.

So we are absolutely serious about meeting our emissions reduction targets. We are doing that through the national energy productivity plan, the Emissions Reduction Fund, the 23.5 per cent RET and a whole range of processes. But we will not compromise energy security and affordability. We will not at a federal level see the mistake of Jay Weatherill repeated and writ large.

Those opposite have a quadrella of disastrous energy policies. First and foremost, they have their 50 per cent RET. Depending on the day, they say it will be legislated or that it will not be legislated. Depending on the day, they say it will cost $48 billion or that it will cost nothing. Depending on the day, it might be an ambition, goal, objective or task. We knows what it might be? It depends on how you ask opposite. What we do know is that they have a 50 per cent renewable energy target locked into the election commitment that they took to the last election.

They also have a 45 per cent emissions reduction target. Why is that important? It is because it is nearly double what we have at26 to 28 per cent and we know that there is no hope in hell that they are going to meet a 45 per cent target. The member for Port Adelaide has this wry smile on his face. He knows what is coming next. He talks about an emissions intensity scheme and he talks about the Australian Energy Market Commission modelling an emissions intensity scheme, but he fails to tell you that that was modelled on a target of 26 to 28 per cent, not a 45 per cent target. We would love to see the numbers it would produce on a 45 per cent target. We would love to see how much it is going to cost the Australian economy to get to a 45 per cent emissions reduction target by 2030, which is the opposition's policy. It is no wonder that we on this side of the House are pointing to the words of the BCA, who said that the opposition's policy is risky and could jeopardise future economic growth. That is what we hear from the BCA about Labor's 45 per cent emissions reduction target.

I have not even finished on their quadrella of policies. I mentioned the emissions intensity scheme. That is the third one. What about their forced closure of coal-fired power plants? We cannot afford to lose that baseload power which provides frequency control ancillary services and the inertia that you need that you get from coal, gas and hydro but do not get from intermittent sources of power like wind and solar. That is why people like AEMO and the AEMC have been warning about this rise of intermittent power and the impact that it would have on the stability of the grid if you do not plan or prepare, which is what we actually saw play out in South Australia.

Mr Husic interjecting—

They have a plan to close coal-fired power stations like Yallourn in Victoria. They want to close Yallourn, not only Hazelwood. The member for Port Adelaide talked about kickstarting the closure of coal-fired power stations. They want to close Yallourn. They want to close Hazelwood. They want to close Muja A and B. They want to close Vales Point in the member for Shortland's electorate. They want to close that. They want to close a whole series of coal-fired power stations. And who do they partner with? Who do the Labor Party partner with in the Senate to pass a motion for the closure of coal-fired power stations?

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