Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the important private member's motion from the member for Ryan, my good friend—that Australia has the potential to be a world leader in hydrogen development, production and export, and that this will be a massive benefit to the Australian economy. The Morrison government's National Hydrogen Strategy, recently released by the Chief Scientist, Alan Finkel, sets out a vision for a clean, innovative and competitive hydrogen strategy that will benefit all Australians and position us as a major global player. These past weeks warn us that Australia now more than ever faces climate related challenges. Climate change is real and affects us all. We are now at the pointy end of action. Australia is already a world leader in investment in clean energy technology and now has one of the highest rates of per capita investment in renewables in the world. Much of this has happened in the last two years.

All around the country, there is evidence that things are quickly moving in the right direction through government and private sector investment in renewables. There is now an inexorable global pivot to renewable energy and low carbon fuels. This means the long game of transitioning towards renewables in a carbon-neutral future is not just an environmental imperative for Australia; it is also an economic inevitability. Australia is in a great position to lead the world in climate change solutions. As a country with a large continent, we are graced with cheap land and plentiful sun and wind to develop our strength in renewable energy. But more than that, we also have strong markets, world class R&D and universities, global businesses, productive free trade and a smart and willing citizenship to develop new and alternative forms of technology such as hydrogen to lead us to a clean and green future.

Our well-established reputation for undertaking large-scale resource projects will position Australia well for becoming a key exporter in future global hydrogen markets. Such a market promises to contribute over $4 billion to our local economy, with thousands of new jobs in the short term. Recently, the first pilot of hydrogen-fuelled direct reduction of iron ore into steel occurred in Europe—a hugely anticipated innovation that will be crucial to weaning the world's dependence off fossil fuels. We need to embrace the challenge and get on board the innovation wave, and invest in the development of energy and emission reduction products, new technologies to capture, store and transmit renewables such as hydrogen, and safer operating environments for carbon-neutral energy sources.

The federal government's investment is playing a key role in ensuring the potential of the hydrogen sector is realised. Along with $13.4 million already provided to implement the recently released National Hydrogen Strategy, the government will reserve $370 million from existing Clean Energy Finance Corporation and ARENA—the Australian Renewable Energy Agency—funding to back new hydrogen projects. This package takes the government's commitment to the hydrogen industry to over $500 million since 2015, boosting the sector and helping our nation realise its high potential for hydrogen production.

The release of the National Hydrogen Strategy provides us with an opportunity to confirm our long-term commitment to the development of our hydrogen capability in order to encourage investment, the creation of jobs and the generation of export capability. This emerging pipeline of skills, training and business start-ups, coupled with changes in consumer behaviour and government investment, results in significant opportunities for us as a country. We will only move forward as a country if we bring both the community and the whole economy with us. I thank the member for Ryan for moving this motion.

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