Varun Ghosh (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Senator Ayres. Energy has always been the foundation of Australian industries' international competitive advantage, with our abundant renewable resources and the falling cost of renewable generation. We have the chance to secure Australia's industrial future and tens of thousands of jobs in regional Australia. How is the government seizing this opportunity, and what are the examples of industrial investments driven by cleaner and cheaper energy?

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

I think what really annoys those opposite the most is that we've set out a very credible plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Now, it's not me saying that. That's Senator Matthew O'Sullivan. On Tuesday, 23 November 2021, that's what he said. We are the only party of government in this place that understands that competitive energy prices have been, are and will be the source of Australia's future competitive advantage in industry. And if the show over here for a moment could abandon the imported far-right talking points from Senator Canavan's social media account, they would understand that what industry is demanding is more electricity—more renewables backed by storage and gas.

That is the cheapest form of a modern electricity system for this country. There are 15 gigawatts of renewables in storage into the system and 20 more in the pipeline. Your miserable record was four gigawatts out and only one tiny gigawatt in. The source of Australia's current competitive problems in energy is all over there. There was a decade of delinquency and inaction and a frozen ideological paralysis. What we are watching is the slow march across here of far-right extremism. (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Ghosh, first supplementary?

Varun Ghosh (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Underinvestment in the energy system and political neglect have eroded Australia's industrial competitiveness. Can the minister confirm that neither the Gladstone nor Bayswater coal power plants could offer enough cheap energy to keep their respective aluminium smelters operating at full capacity?

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

Senator Ghosh, you're right. Rio was clear that the coal power from Bayswater would be too expensive after 2028, and Rio curtailed production at Boyne Island in 2017 because the electricity from the Gladstone coal power plant was too expensive. Why were these smelters forced to go to ageing coal plants for power? It was because of the previous government's supreme incompetence. Its lack of diligence and its lack of capacity to be able to deliver more than one puny gigawatt in the national interest meant that we had a decade-long investment drought. Disinvestment has a consequence for real people. To quote a letter from the Newcastle Herald today: 'Energy uncertainty is hurting industry. Tomago's situation should prompt urgent investment in clean, reliable and affordable energy.' (Time expired)

Varun Ghosh (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A cheaper and cleaner energy system requires partnerships between the Commonwealth and state governments, along with private investors. Why is coherent and serious policy key for these partnerships and what parts of the community are affected if policy is incoherent?

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

They are the party of the sort of gourmet food Sunday morning market. We are the party that actually wants to use markets in the public interest. I think Ted O'Brien said on 23 November 2021, 'My view is that we can all win from getting to net zero.' That's what he said. What has happened to the Liberal Party? Liberal moderates are now Australia's largest invertebrate species. All through there, they not only have an incapacity to have the political spine to stand up to a right-wing extremist imported takeover. They are also without the intellectual coherence to mount an argument that is based on investor certainty and policy coherence. (Time expired)