Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health, Aged Care and Indigenous Health Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We all want our children to live in a cleaner world. We also want them to live in an Australia that is successful, independent and safe. In order to do this, our pathway to decarbonising the Australian economy must be ambitious, optimistic and aspirational, but it also needs to be practical and achievable. Last year the Albanese government took charge of our renewable energy transition and enshrined into law the emissions-reduction target of 43 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030. A key assumption in achieving this target is that Australia will generate 82 per cent of electricity from renewable sources, and Tasmania is playing a big part in that. We're a world leader, down in Tassie, in renewable energy generation, and we've been 100 per cent self-sufficient and renewable since 2020, largely thanks to hydro-electric schemes. We have 54 dams and 30 power stations which hold 26 per cent of Australia's fresh water in storage, and they're generating clean, green hydro-electricity. Now we're moving towards doubling that renewable energy target of generating 200 per cent of our current electricity needs by 2040.

But the rest of mainland Australia is not so fortunate, and there's a lot of work to be done. In order to meet that 43 per cent reduction target, the speed and scale of that transition needs to be unprecedented. It has been estimated that in order to meet Labor's 2030 target over the next seven years we will need to install 22,000 solar panels every single day, build 40 wind turbines every single month and lay more than 28,000 kilometres of transmission lines. These estimate assume that there will be no increase in demand for energy, and that seems highly unlikely. One also needs to factor in Labor's election promise to put 3.8 million new electric vehicles on the road by 2030. Where will the components of these EVs come from? Where will the materials for the wind turbines come from? The solar panels and transmission lines—where will all this raw material come from? It may seem counterintuitive, but the answer is: from our world-leading mineral sector—our mining industry.

This emerging clean-energy sector is set to become a major force in mineral markets. Until the mid-2010s, for most minerals, the energy sector represented only a very small part of the total demand. However, global energy transition has gathered pace, and clean-energy technologies are becoming one of the fastest-growing segments of demand in the world. For example, a typical electric car requires six times the mineral inputs of a conventional car, and an onshore wind plant requires nine times more mineral resources than a gas-fired plant. The average conventional car comprises 22.3 kilograms of copper and 11.2 kilograms of manganese. The average EV, on the other hand, contains 53.2 kilograms of copper, 8.9 kilograms of lithium, 39.9 kilograms of nickel, 24½ kilograms of manganese, 13.3 kilograms of cobalt and 63.3 kilograms of graphite per vehicle.

Whether in Tasmania or any other state, we cannot afford to demonise the mining sector, because they're the ones that are producing this stuff and they're going to be a working force in our renewable energy future. The fact is that mining is absolutely crucial and underpins our prosperity when it comes to renewables. We must be open-minded and steadfast in our advocacy for world-leading mining practices and the role they play in making our children's future better. The state of Tasmania has been a significant producer of minerals, particularly polymetallics, for more than 100 years. Mineral extraction and processing in Tasmania's largest export industry accounts for 50 per cent of our exports and 52 per cent of our state's GDP. That's where the west coast of Tasmania, in my electorate of Braddon, does all the heavy lifting. The ongoing viability of mining on the west coast is being threatened by red and green tape, by overregulation and by unjustified environmental activism. Our successful transition into a renewable energy future will require not only a change in mindset for many but also an acceptance that we need to actively promote and to increase— (Time expired)