Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As the member for Paterson, energy is my business. No electorate knows better than mine that it is vital that we continue to power our industry, that we continue not only to allow people to put on the aircon on 44 degree days but also to support industry and, more importantly, investment in energy. And that's really been the problem over the last 10 years. We just haven't had the level of investment in energy that is required. The former government turned its back on it, turned its back on the opportunity that was coming down the line when we had a chance to really grasp it—and it was a nettle, but we had the chance to grasp it—and say, 'No; Australia can be better.' The former government didn't do it.

Tomago Aluminium sits in my seat and it uses 12 per cent of the energy in New South Wales. It employs a thousand people directly and 5,000 indirectly. But, more than that, it acts as a battery for New South Wales. When there is a situation in New South Wales where we do have a drain on energy, Tomago gets the phone call. It gets asked to curtail production. In that way, we can keep the hospitals running, keep the industry going and keep the aircon on across New South Wales and the eastern seaboard of Australia.

I am proud to be a strong voice for industry and energy in this place and even prouder to be part of a government that knows Australia can be better and that it can be an energy powerhouse. It is such a relief that, after a decade of denial and a decade of delay from the former government, we are in charge and we're, quite frankly, taking care of energy business. We understand that gas plays an important part in the energy mix in powering communities.

Gas is critical to our transition for industries and manufacturers. In my home town the Kurri Kurri gas plant is currently being constructed, ensuring that supply is continuous and reliable. It is necessary and it does look to the future, with hydro and hydrogen coming in future years. I do take a moment to thank my friend Paul Broad for his contribution at Snowy Hydro and beyond, and for his advice and counsel over my tenure in the energy sector as the member for Paterson. I acknowledge the former minister's endorsement of that and thank him very much for that.

The Albanese government came to office in May with a comprehensive climate and energy policy, and Australians supported us. That's the long and the short of it. Australians want reliable energy and they want cheaper power. But, more importantly than that, they want to maintain our standard of living, they want to keep their jobs, and they want to be able to service their mortgages and send their kids to school and have a good life. They know, as part of that, it is vitally important that every industry has access to reliable and, most importantly, affordable energy. And they know that good policy will drive prices down. It will provide certainty for that investment.

We have come into office with a comprehensive plan. We want to rewire the grid. We know the grid doesn't stack up at the moment. It was built for 1980s centralised power. More and more across the country, people are embracing renewables. We know that it is a very divested grid now. We know that the energy landscape across Australia is different. We have to have a grid that can cope with that. We also have to have policies that encourage investment in energy but that also encourage the businesses that are actually going to drive the innovation to keep making things, keep employing people and keep the lights on.

It will be interesting, as we emerge in the next 10 to15 years as this superpower, to look back on this time and remember the comments made by those opposite and to see how, really, they have not only delayed and denied but also talked our country down at a time when we need to be talking it up as much as we can.

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