Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia. Will the minister update the House on the visit to Australia today of the executive director of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol? Minister, how will growing global demand for energy support jobs and growth in Australia?

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the member for Solomon because she, more than most, understands the importance of global energy markets to jobs and growth in her electorate with the $50 billion Ichthys LNG Project, which has created more than 6,000 jobs. Today, Dr Birol, the executive director of the IEA, was in Canberra to talk about the global energy outlook. This followed a visit two weeks ago to Australia by the Indonesian energy minister and there will be a visit tomorrow from the Indian energy minister. Importantly, Dr Birol reaffirmed Australia's place in the global energy supply chain as the No. 1 exporter of LNG by 2020 and the second-largest exporter in the world of coal. Also, Dr Birol explained that, despite the lower energy prices, there is increasing global demand for energy. Global demand for energy will increase by a third between now and 2040. Demand for gas will increase by 50 per cent between now and 2014. And even though coal will be a smaller proportion of the overall global energy mix, it will still increase demand by 10 per cent between now and 2040. A reason for this growing demand for energy comes from our region—obviously China, Indonesia and Thailand—but also increasingly India. India has around 300 million people who do not have access to electricity or little access to electricity. Already, India's demand for energy has doubled since 2000. The Indian Express has very much a long way to run.

In addition to the increasing demand for fossil fuels, there is an increasing demand for renewable energy. In 2014, half of the new energy power generation in the world came from renewable energy. By 2040, 35 per cent of the global energy mix will come from renewable energy, up from 22 per cent today. This is good news for Australia. Dr Birol also praised Australia's contribution in Paris as both important and constructive.

The member for Solomon is absolutely right: Dr Birol's visit today is highly important. He has reaffirmed Australia's role in the global energy supply chain. He has reaffirmed that this increased demand, particularly in our region, will create thousands of jobs into the future and billions of dollars worth of export income, and it will also mean that we will continue to help millions of people be removed and alleviated from energy poverty throughout the world.