Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

Well, thanks, Senator Ciccone. President, he is dead right. I don't want to trigger Senator Canavan and the four Nationals over there by talking about the CSIRO's GenCost report, which demonstrates once again that firmed renewables remain the lowest cost new-build technology for Australia. I know that it's deeply irritating over there to have a scientifically based, independent report from a nationally respected scientific institution that somehow gets in the way of the sort of hysterical Sky After Dark carry-on that we've seen from those opposite over the last few days. And the reason this kind of report matters is that, if you use an independent scientific report, that actually forms the basis of good policy. And good policy leads to policy certainty, and policy certainty leads to investment decisions made by firms in Australian industrial and energy capability. That's what happens.

Now, the record speaks for itself. The cost of renewables for Australians keeps getting cheaper. The cost of solar fell by eight per cent for the second year in a row, and the cost of batteries fell by 20 per cent in the last year alone. The report confirms what millions of Australians know is true—that the cost of firmed renewables remains the lowest-cost new-build technology for Australia.