Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This could not be further from the truth. The government would like to invest more in welfare, education, infrastructure and all manner of other policy initiatives that we are already investing significant funds towards in the budget. The reality, however, is that we simply cannot afford to do this because Australia's current levels of spending are not feasible—not now and certainly not in the long term. This is not just the view of the coalition. It is also the view of the Treasury, leading economists and an independent National Commission of Audit report. The commission's chairman, Tony Shepherd, recently made this clear in an opinion piece in The Australian where he definitively stated that we are living beyond our means. In the article he goes on to state that we have arrived at our present fiscal situation because past governments have expanded the range of, and eligibility for, social services and other benefits and legislated these entitlements, creating unreasonable community expectation. Needless to say, if those opposite had implemented some sort of policy framework that was appropriately costed during the six years they were in government, the coalition would not be faced with these tough decisions today.

As a result, the government has held firm on its spending cuts and introduced the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Repeal) Bill 2014 for the purpose of closing ARENA by repealing the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Act 2011. This will save the government almost $1.3 billion in uncommitted funding. Like any business model, it is important to see how innovation concepts develop and whether outcomes are being achieved before investing more money in similar initiatives. That is why the government is committed to overseeing the rollout of a billion dollars in ARENA projects that funding has already been committed to. We will ensure greater efficiency in Australia's renewable energy sector is achieved by consolidating the delivery of these projects into the Department of Industry.

A billion dollars is a significant amount of money to commit to renewable energy, so any claims the government is walking away from the developments in this sector are clearly baseless. Although $1 billion is already a lot of money, so is the further $1.8 billion that has been invested by industry—taking the total investment in Australian renewables to $2.8 billion. Despite the idea that has been generated by those opposite and the media that ARENA is the only driver of renewable energy in Australia, this is not the case. As an example I would like to relay a story. When I went on a delegation to Singapore with the former member for Braddon—I see the current member for Braddon sitting in the chamber—and the former member for Reid, both of whom are no longer here, we spoke to a Singaporean development corporation. We questioned them: 'Why don't you invest in renewable energy?' They said: 'We don't invest in anything that is not sustainable.' There is an economic answer for you. There is no reason why renewable energies cannot be picked up by the private sector.

Other measures, including the government's Renewable Energy Target Scheme, have provided both direct and indirect support to renewable energy. This has amounted to tens of billions of dollars in financial assistance to renewable energy projects and targets, a significant investment by anyone's standards. The $2.55 billion Emissions Reduction Fund will also provide an incentive based approach to tackling climate change and reducing energy costs through activities such as revegetation, investing in soil, carbon capturing of gas from landfill and increasing energy efficiency. The government also announced the establishment of the Solar Towns program in the budget to support solar PV and solar hot water in community groups. To date, financial assistance by ARENA, largely through grants, is being provided to nearly 200 renewable energy developments including the construction of renewable energy projects, research and development of various technologies and the development and deployment of renewable energy.

In my electorate of Swan, and as we heard previously from the parliamentary secretary, the Curtin University of Technology has long been recognised as a key driver in research and innovation across a sweep of projects. Many colleagues in this place would have heard me speak about the Curtin University before and I recently had the pleasure of announcing another $2.7 million in Commonwealth government funding to support four potentially groundbreaking science projects at the university. This funding was part of a $150 million commitment by the Commonwealth government to fund 150 new fellowships across the country, and it is administered by the Australian Research Council. Curtin has also received financial assistance from ARENA for two renewable energy projects, one of which was completed in May 2012. Under ARENA's support for advanced biofuels program, the university and its partners received $2.5 million in grant funding to develop new technology and increase technical expertise to equip Australia to grow and convert farm-grown Mallee crops into advanced biofuels and meet transport fuel demands while reducing emissions. As a result of this project, the decision tool that was developed to estimate mallee crop production based on key site characteristics will be made directly available to growers to speed up the development of the mallee based biofuel industry.

Curtin University's company Renergi Pty Ltd also received over $3.6 million from ARENA to take their currently small-scale technology, which converts biomass such as agricultural waste and mallee crops into a gas that can be used to generate electricity, to the next stage by building and operating a larger version of the gasifier. This project is ongoing. I have worked with Curtin University for many years and have witnessed firsthand how their research projects and innovative technologies have the ability to drive various Australian industries in the long term, a goal I am sure each of these projects will achieve.

Two other projects in my home state of Western Australia have also been provided with financial assistance by ARENA, including $13 million towards the Perth Wave Energy Project, which is being developed by Carnegie Wave Energy Ltd, offshore of Garden Island. The parliamentary secretary mentioned this project as well. It reminds me of when John Howard gave a grant of $5 million to that particular company in 2007—and guess what happened when the Labor government came in? They took it away. They say they have a deep interest in renewable energy and they took the $5 million grant away because it was given by the coalition. This project will create the world's first commercial-scale wave energy array that is capable of producing both zero-emission power and directly desalinated water. This clean energy will be purchased by the Australian Department of Defence, as part of a landmark power purchase agreement. Almost $450,000 has also been committed to a feasibility study by Abengoa Solar to construct a 20-megawatt solar thermal power station at Perenjori.

I fully support the work of each of these organisations; however, I understand, as I am sure they do, that the government cannot afford to continue providing this level of assistance with taxpayers' funds—as much as we would like to—when we are faced with the burden of ridding Australia of its current debt levels. To ensure that each of the currently funded projects continues to be well managed, key measures in the bill before the House today will identify how ARENA's assets, liabilities and functions will be transferred to the Department of Industry to avoid any disruptions to current projects or those that will soon be underway. I am sure you, Mr Deputy Speaker Vasta, along with me, have full confidence in the Department of Industry to carry on the work that is currently being done by ARENA. A provision in the bill will also require ARENA to provide the Minister for Industry with an annual report and, if necessary, a subsequent report for the time between financial year 2013-14 and the last day of ARENA's reporting period as an agency. This will ensure the minister has a complete understanding of project outcomes to date so that informed policy decisions can be made in the future.

Under the Labor government, Australian businesses and industry were forced to endure inconsistent leadership and a lack of vision or long-term strategy, which led to projects across an array of portfolios being mismanaged. Unfortunately, ARENA projects did not escape this chasm. Instead of solving problems, the former government's answer was to throw more money at them, close their eyes and hope they went away. We heard the parliamentary secretary earlier mentioning pink batts, school halls and other projects under Labor's auspices. It is because of this mismanagement that the Oceanlinx one-megawatt commercial wave energy demonstrator, based in South Australia, sank in June and remains damaged beyond repair. Nearly $4 million of Australian taxpayers' money sank with it. Another South Australian project was also closed in June, albeit not as dramatically, after grant funding conditions were unable to be met due to a lack of investors for the Petratherm 'hot rocks' renewable energy project. The result was a further $4.2 million in taxpayers' money going down the drain under the previous Labor government's watch. Unlike the former government, the coalition has taken on board the lessons learnt from this mismanagement at the top level and will be working to ensure the transfer of ARENA projects is progressed efficiently and contract milestones are met.

Australia has a diverse energy mix, including coal, gas and, of course, renewable energy. This government supports each of these sectors and any projects that aim to reduce costs for providers and consumers—particularly with regard to renewable energy, those projects that aim to reduce Australia's emissions. The government will continue to invest in these sectors through various schemes and policy measures, but, unlike the former government, it will invest systematically and under a consolidated framework that is economically sustainable.

It is because businesses and communities across Australia know that the coalition government have the strength to make these tough decisions, and are economically responsible, that we were elected last year, and now we will do everything in our power to see our key budget savings passed through this place and the Senate. It is time those opposite stopped trying to block the passage of these necessary savings measures and instead supported the government's efforts to put Australia back on a sustainable path and reduce the debt levels they created. I commend the bill to the House.

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