Kate Chaney (Curtin, Independent) | Hansard source

Western Australia's resources sector is world leading, but our prosperity is less secure than it looks. Our economy leans on one industry, one export and one market, and China's steel demand is peaking. At the same time, Western Australians are feeling three pressures at once: rising energy bills, dependence on imported fuel and a changing climate. WA is the only state with rising emissions. These are usually treated as competing problems. They're not. The same response answers all three—decarbonising and diversifying our economy.

Right now, WA's vision for the future is contradictory. We say we want to be a renewable energy superpower, but we keep approving new fossil fuel export expansion, extending gas out to 2070. These two futures compete for the same land, capital and workers. That's why I'm consulting with industry experts in my community to develop a vision for WA's future articulating how we can lower energy costs, build our future prosperity, strengthen our own energy security and bring emissions down by decarbonising and diversifying our economy and exports. We can leverage our strengths to build the clean export industries of the future—green iron, green hydrogen and processed critical minerals. If we want to lead these industries and help the world decarbonise through our exports, it's time to commit and stop locking in a future we're trying to leave.

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