Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Australia is an energy superpower. Few countries are as richly endowed with energy resources as we are, both those of the past and those of the future. Our electricity grid, while only 50 per cent renewable, is powered by 100 per cent Australian fuels. The coal, wind, gas and sunshine that generate our electricity are domestic. Unlike many countries, we do not rely on imported fuels to keep our lights on, although we do to keep our cars running. So we start from a position of enormous strength. But, as was said at Climate Action Week in Sydney, advantage matters only if we act. The fact that we are even having a conversation about energy insecurity in a country with Australia's resources is in many ways a failure of policy.

When the east coast began exporting LNG, we did so without putting in place a domestic gas reservation scheme. Since then, despite tripling of production, domestic prices have also roughly tripled. Supply has grown, but prices have tripled as well. That is not the outcome of scarcity. It is the result of policy decisions that linked Australian gas to volatile international markets. Those markets are shaped by forces far beyond our control: the war in Ukraine, the US fracking boom, OPEC supply decisions, rising demand across South-East Asia, and now the conflict in the Middle East.

Such volatility can be a windfall for exporters, many of which are foreign owned. But for Australian households and businesses it has meant painful price shocks and ongoing uncertainty. The current geopolitical crisis has made three things clear. First, on cost: we cannot wait until 2027 for domestic gas reservation to ensure Australian households and businesses using Australian gas are not forced to pay volatile international prices. Second, on benefit: when global conflicts drive extra extraordinary spikes in export revenues, Australians should share in that benefit. It is urgent that we implement a windfall tax on war-driven, supernormal revenues, as the EU and UK did in 2022. Already there are calls on government for cost-of-living relief, for example by slashing fuel excise or reintroducing electricity rebates. Such calls cannot be answered without a stronger budget position.

Without a windfall tax, energy price relief would in effect be a transfer payment from government to multinationals. Third, we must accelerate the electrification of our economy. This is not only about climate; it is about energy security and the cost of living. Australia imports most of its liquid fuels, leaving us exposed to global shocks. We could reopen refineries and lock ourselves further into the fuels of the past, or we can accelerate our transition to cleaner, cheaper domestic fuels. An electric vehicle can be fuelled by 100 per cent Australian energy, and that energy is becoming cleaner every day. Road transport can and must be electrified, yet nine out of 10 of every car sold in Australia extends our dependence on imported fuels. We need policies that drive transport electrification across the country, including in regional areas for those living in apartments and in trucking.

This is not about isolationism. Australia's energy story has always been one of partnership. Early gas production relied upon foreign capital and expertise. When Japan's nuclear industry shut down in the 2010s, it was Australian gas that helped keep the lights on. We have resources to spare, just as our trade partners do. We are stronger and safer because of these interdependencies, but we must also be clear: myopic foreign profit cannot come before Australian households or Australian industry, and it must not come before our long-term energy security. We have weathered too many global energy shocks. We have the benefit of hindsight. Our policies should reflect that hard-won wisdom.

Finally, we must continue to focus more on those parts of our community that are currently not well-supported through this energy transition. In particular, I speak to the renters and apartment dwellers in Wentworth—60 per cent of my community live in apartments and 40 per cent rent. Those are big numbers. Many of them are passionate about the climate transition and the need to clean our energy grid, but do not have the tools to be able to do so. I appreciate the government has introduced things like the three hours of clean energy in the day, but the challenge is that many apartment dwellers and renters do not have the smart-meters to take advantage of these types of policies, and so it will not actually benefit them. Those are the ones that we need to support, because we need to make sure that all Australian households thrive and can access clean and cheaper energy through this transition. If we don't then those households will lose faith that this transition is going to support them and not just others.

See this speech in context