STATEMENT

September 22, 2020

Comments from Helen Haines MP, Independent Federal Member for Indi, about the federal government’s ‘technology roadmap’ announced today by Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor MP:

The government has today outlined a tax-based approach to emissions reduction, investing $18 billion of public money in new technologies like low-carbon steel and carbon capture.

While I welcome new technology investment, this ‘roadmap’ appears to involve no plan for renewable energy, and no plan to ensure everyday people benefit from this transition.

Across the next 20 years, as our coal-fired power stations are retired, we will need to invest billions of dollars re-building our electricity supply through renewables.

So renewable energy companies tell me they want to invest in Indi, but cannot because of Australia’s lack of energy policy.

Today’s announcement does nothing to drive investment in Indi. We have no energy policy.

So dozens of communities in my electorate trying to develop their own renewable projects are held back by a lack of government support.

Today’s announcement does nothing to support my communities and others like them across regional Australia. We have no plan in this country to harness renewables to create new industries, new jobs, and thriving regions.

That’s why, tomorrow, I will release my Local Power Plan – a blueprint for everyday Australians to benefit from renewable energy.

To every Australian dismayed by the government’s proposal for a gas-fired recovery, the Local Power Plan offers a different vision to power us out of our current crisis.

To every Australian who believes the future of our regions will be based on the clean industries of the 21st century, the Local Power Plan offers a practical way to make it happen.

To every Australian who is willing to work hard and work smart to make our country the clean energy superpower of the world, the Local Power Plan is a way to achieve that vision.

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Image: Baroota Solar Farm team (2019)