Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] My question is to the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction. Securing our energy supply will provide certainty for businesses and households across Australia, including in my electorate of Lindsay. Will the minister please update the House on how sticking to the national plan helps continue the important work the Morrison government is doing to ensure that all Australians have access to affordable and reliable energy?

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lindsay for her question and for her relentless advocacy for manufacturing in western and south-western Sydney. She knows that the 900,000 Australians who work in manufacturing, many of whom are in western and south-western Sydney, rely on having access to affordable, reliable energy for their jobs. That's why the Morrison government is taking the lead, alongside the states and territories and alongside the Energy Security Board, to make sure we have an electricity grid that is fit for the future.

As the member knows, we are seeing record levels of investment in renewables in this country: seven gigawatts last year alone and 6.3 the year before that. Seven gigawatts constitutes more than four large coal-fired power stations—in a single year. We have the highest uptake of rooftop solar in the world: one in four houses in Australia; 8½ thousand houses and businesses in the member for Lindsay's electorate. This investment in renewables is bringing down emissions fast, but it is also creating challenges, because our manufacturers, our households and our small businesses need to know, when they flick the switch when the sun has gone down, that the lights will still go on.

Sadly, in recent years, we haven't seen the investment in dispatchable capacity that we need. Indeed, it has been 12 years since there has been an investment in dispatchable capacity in New South Wales. We've seen what happens when there isn't enough investment in dispatchable capacity, or when there's a premature closure. In Victoria, when Hazelwood closed, overnight we saw more than a doubling of wholesale electricity prices. We can't see a repeat of that, and that's why the reforms to the National Electricity Market put forward by the ESB are an opportunity to ensure that Australia's electricity system is fit for the future. It'll ensure that we have enough dispatchable capacity, alongside those record investments in renewables, with investment in generation, like gas and pumped hydro, and in batteries coming into the market at the right time.

A critical element of the full recommendations is a capacity mechanism. Energy markets around the world—a large proportion of them—use capacity mechanisms, and that's why we've seen strong support and a welcoming of these recommendations from companies like EDL, ENGIE, the Australian Energy Council and many other experienced players in the industry. On this side of the House, we are absolutely committed to the affordable, reliable energy all Australians need, particularly those 900,000 Australians who work in manufacturing.