During the 2013 election campaign, Joe Hockey was asked “Should you win the election, at what stage will you own the economy and at what stage will it no longer be Labor’s fault?”
He responded “We will own the economy from day one, whether it’s Labor’s fault or not… I’m not afraid to accept responsibility and I’m not afraid to be accountable. We will own it from day one. We will be responsible for the Australian economy.”
Apparently that doesn’t include responsibility for electricity prices and security which, well into their second term, the Turnbull government are still blaming on Labor.
As Barnaby Joyce turned purple during a vitriolic rant in Question Time yesterday that it was all Labor’s fault that prices are so high, Turnbull tried lamely to convince us that being told our contract was ending was some sort of “strong leader” win to drive prices down.
In an astonishing display of short term memory loss, hypocrisy, and downright gall, Turnbull taunted Labor that they had no plan on energy.
Ummm….they had an emissions trading scheme in place and working well until you trashed it Malcolm.
We had bipartisan support for a renewable energy target, until you trashed it.
They had provided certainty to the renewable energy industry that attracted investment, until you trashed it.
They had subsidised home insulation and solar roofs, until you trashed it.
Energy demand and emissions were going down, until you trashed it.
Under Labor’s implemented (rather than talked about) plan, polluters paid billions to the government and so were incentivised to move towards sustainable practice. Until you trashed it with your stupid Direct Action Plan which sees us paying billions instead for no result.
You commissioned the Finkel Review and then refused to adopt its centrepiece, the Clean Energy Target.
The newly appointed head of the Australian Energy Market Commission has said an emissions intensity scheme is the most effective policy for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. You have ruled it out.
You said you would subsidise one million solar roofs. Then chose not to.
You said you would plant 20 million trees. Then relaxed laws which resulted in land clearing at “globally significant levels”.
You put Barnaby Joyce in charge of water. Then he let people steal and resell it. Hard to plan hydro storage when rivers are drying up.
By using creative accounting, you are simultaneously claiming we will meet our 2020 reduction targets whilst conceding that emissions will be more than 5% higher than those in 2000.
The Queensland Renewable Energy Expert Panel found that a 50% renewable energy target could drive $6.7 billion of new investment in their state, and deliver a net increase in employment of 6400 – 6700 full-time equivalent positions on average per year between 2020 and 2030. You mock them.
You want to spend government money on building a railway line for a coal mine that no-one will finance.
You want to spend money on carbon capture and storage which has proven commercially unviable.
You want to take years to build very expensive new coal fired power stations when ultra-super-critical produces twice the emissions of gas-fired technology.
The CEO of CS Energy, who produces a third of Queensland’s power and runs two of the most advanced coal-fired plants in the country, said “CS Energy certainly has no intention of building any coal-fired power plants, ultra-centre super-critical or not. And it would surprise me greatly if there was any more coal-fired technology built in Australia. I think when you look at the risk of the investment, you’re talking about $2 billion-plus investment up-front. These assets have a plant life of roughly 40 years, and so it’s a very, very big long-term bet. So given the current uncertainty, I think it would be a very courageous board that would invest in coal-fired technology in Australia.”
Matthew Warren from the Australian Energy Council, the body that represents all the major power generators, offered the same critique of the Turnbull doctrine.
“Plans for expansion to coal-fired power stations has been basically shelved over the last decade. We’re now looking at gas and renewables as the mainstay of the investment for us, at least for the next 10-20 years.”
Oliver Yates from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation said “It’s not really a technology which, ah, would be one that is likely to have a long-term path, and therefore would, again, be very risky for the taxpayer to invest in.”
Turnbull likes to pretend he is backing renewable energy but mainly he just makes announcements, shuffles existing money around and commissions, and then ignores, reviews. What will he do when he finds out his nation-building energy saviour from the 50s, the Snowy-Hydro, fails a cost-benefit analysis?
Before the election, the Australian Solar Council chief John Grimes spoke of the Coalition’s track record of “contempt” for renewable energy.
“The Turnbull government is again showing utter hypocrisy by raiding the Clean Energy Finance Corporation for its latest election stunt,” Grimes said. “This government has twice tried to axe the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. It’s tried to axe the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), it’s taken the axe to the Renewable Energy Target and now it plans to slash $1.3 billion from ARENA. Today’s announcement [the Sustainable Cities Investment Fund] is not new money. It is simply using the Clean Energy Finance Corporation as its slush fund.”
The Australian Youth Climate Coalition was also critical of what they called “rebranding,” used to cover up a lack of ambition on global warming.
“This is the third time the Prime Minister has re-announced clean energy money that has existed since 2013 and the Coalition spent most of their time in government trying to cut,” said AYCC national director, Kirsty Albion.
Malcolm, despite your trail of destruction on environmental issues, with privatisation and the free market operating apace, power prices have soared while you have been in office.
You are four years into your term in government and you are still blaming your predecessors and continually asking the Opposition what their plan is. That’s not what governing is about. You were put there to fix things and you haven’t.
Every industry player (other than the Minerals Council) has told you that your plan stinks.
Stop pointing at others. That’s not what “strong leaders” do.
[textblock style=”7″]
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
[/textblock]
