Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

They and so many thousands of others like them had the vision to build a Snowy Mountains scheme, and part of their plan was pumped hydro. They knew the opportunity. They did not see, perhaps, the future of solar energy; perhaps they did not see that. But they knew that storage was going to be important, and those plans were drawn up and have been there for over 30 years—plans to add thousands of megawatts to the capacity of the Snowy Mountains scheme. One scheme alone, Tantangara to Talbingo, which we will build—27 kilometres of tunnel—will deliver 2,000 megawatts of additional generation: base load power, renewable power, energy that makes renewables reliable. The Labor Party, in their reckless ideology, pursued a 50 per cent renewable target but with no idea how to provide the backup or how to provide the storage. What is going to happen to the base load? 'We'll just keep switching off,' they thought, 'That's a good idea.' What happens when the wind does not blow? Labor had no idea and no plan for that. We are putting those plans in place. We are going to develop Snowy Hydro 2.0 and build on the work of the men women with us today and of thousands of others like them. Their courage, their conviction and their vision will build on that. We will make renewables reliable. We will build the secure energy future for all Australians.

Mr Khalil interjecting—

See this speech in context