E&OE….
Topics: Renewable Energy Target, PM’s Tenterfield speech
MARK PARTON:
Indeed we’ve got the Environment Minister Greg Hunt on the line right now.
G’day Greg.
GREG HUNT:
And good morning Mark.
MARK PARTON:
So why have we walked away from this 20% Renewable Energy Target?
GREG HUNT:
Well you couldn’t be more wrong, with respect. Before the election we talked about a 20% Renewable Energy Target. After the election we had to go through Labor’s statutory review they and the Greens put in place, the fact that there would have to be a legislated review this year and we’ve just announced that we will be keeping a 20% Renewable Energy Target and maintaining household solar in an untouched form.
MARK PARTON:
But, like things have changed. You’re not telling me that everything remains the same as it did when you went to the election? There’s been much change of detail here.
GREG HUNT:
Well we were actually very, very, very careful before the election. I know Ian MacFarlane and I were asked on numerous occasions do you stand by the idea of a 20% Renewable Energy Target and we said yes. The Prime Minister said yes and now we have reaffirmed that’s the case. One of the interesting things though is that we always had a bipartisan commitment to 20%.
Because Labor got their figures wrong in Government, badly wrong, dramatically wrong we are now inadvertently heading to a different place and so what we’ve said is we will work constructively with the ALP and to their credit they are in discussions with us to ensure that we get the 20%, we get stability, but we don’t suddenly have a case where there’s a shortfall of production relative to a legislated target which leads to a $90 per tonne carbon tax equivalent.
MARK PARTON:
Those, those…
GREG HUNT:
That’s what we’re trying to avoid.
MARK PARTON:
Those in the industry itself in terms of making renewable energy are of the belief that there’s nothing stable about what’s going on at the moment and that it’s difficult for them to make business decisions when the goalposts keep moving.
GREG HUNT:
Well that’s actually – we are still under the same system that was legislated but along the way what you see is that there has been Labor creating a phantom credit scheme and Labor abolishing a phantom credit scheme which has created enormous damage.
They were paying people for phantom renewable energy that was never produced. That created a massive overhang of credits which has had a real impact on the scheme. They created an approach towards a Cash for Clunkers Scheme, a Citizens Assembly, both of which they abandoned.
They terminated the Solar Rebate, they terminated the Solar Hot Water Rebate, they created and terminated the Green Loans Scheme and of course they created and terminated the Home Insulation Programme. None of that’s happened under us. We’ve had a very stable approach. You look at those things that they talk about as if it was some sort of golden day, it was a disaster.
Now what we’re doing is slowly and carefully and methodically looking at where we’re at and we’ve reaffirmed 20%. We’ve reaffirmed household solar is going to continue and that’s very consistent. What we’re all trying to do is to ensure that we get significant growth in renewables. We’re looking at between sixty and a hundred percent growth in the existing body of large scale renewables over the next five years, as opposed to what we’ve achieved over the past fourteen years.
MARK PARTON:
Alright. Martin’s listening this morning. Martin’s a bit of a dreamer and I say that in a very positive way, but he just says very clearly why can’t we match Germany’s Renewable Energy Target of 45% by 2030? Why can’t we be serious?
GREG HUNT:
Well look, I was actually in Germany not long ago. I met with think-tanks, I met with Government officials, I met with people in the power sector and what they pointed out to me is that whereas Australia is not in any significant way adding new coal-fired power, Germany’s adding very, very significant amounts of new coal-fired power.
They’re switching from nuclear to coal-fired power, they’re also adding renewables, but at the same time many people pointed out to me that there was a lot of renewable energy which was being shared across borders, sometimes, where in the case of Austria, they were actually paying people. So there was – it’s good luck to them if they can do it. I think they should be respected for the choices they make.
But in terms of what we’re doing, right now we are on about 16,000 gigawatt hours of large-scale renewable energy a year. We’re looking at increasing that between sixty and a hundred percent over the…
MARK PARTON:
But let me understand what you’re saying about the Germans. What you’re saying about the Germans is good luck to them and let’s respect them, but are you questioning the economics of it?
GREG HUNT:
Entirely a matter for them. I can say this, that the think-tanks that we met with who were very, very pro-action on climate change, as am I, are very, very pro-renewables were saying there was an extremely large debate in Germany about the transformation of their system.
That we need to be honest that there’s a significant body of coal which has been added, as well as renewables and there’s very little in the way of new coal energy being added in Australia. In fact, it’s been moderating. So I think that’s an important thing to understand.
MARK PARTON:
Alright. There is a bit of a discussion going on around the nation about the tax system and possible reform to it. We’re being told that tax reform’s going to be essential if Australia wants to improve health and education and alter dangerous erosion in State services. I had to chuckle, I heard the story come up on overnight news services and as soon as it comes up, any talk of, you know, a massive reform, there’s always talk about the GST.
That’s the first thing, that’s the first thing that journalist’s get to is will the GST be increased. I don’t even really want to touch on that, but I do want to say that I think it’s time for us to actually have a look at what we do as a nation tax-wise and I’m pleased to see that Tony Abbott is putting that conversation back on the agenda.
GREG HUNT:
Look, the main focus of the Tenterfield speech, which was the Prime Minister’s big speech to the Sir Henry Parkes Commemorative Dinner, was on the fact that you still have situations where in certain sectors you’ve got trades people who can’t operate across State borders because their qualifications aren’t automatically recognised.
That you have in the health sector this situation where part of the health services are done at a Federal level, part of the health services are done at State level. In the environment sector we are busily pushing to get a One-Stop Shop so instead of people having to go through a three year, two tier process they can have one high standard process in the way that New Zealand does and we’ve been going through that, sort of, quite dramatic Federal reform.
The ALP supported it in Government, they praised it, they demanded it, then they oppose it in Opposition, but fortunately the Labor States and Territories have been very supportive, including the ACT, which signed on with even the Greens supporting it. So that’s the sort of practical, real-world Federal reform. Do things once to a single standard, not do things multiple times and if you can have health and education done at one level of Government, everybody thinks that that is far better than double handling.
MARK PARTON:
Alright. Thanks for coming on this morning Greg.
GREG HUNT:
Always a pleasure.
MARK PARTON:
Greg Hunt, who’s the Federal Environment Minister.
(ENDS)