Greens' Solar Energy Policy

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL (15:40): Today I want to talk about the Australian Greens' federal election pledge to make a solar thermal plant in Port Augusta a reality, as well as outline the Greens' Renew Australia—Powering The New Economy plan. Last week, Greens senators for South Australia, Sarah Hanson-Young and Robert Simms, announced that if re-elected the Greens will push for a commitment for a $100 million federal grant to help establish a solar thermal plant in Port Augusta. This grant would complement private investment to make this project viable, thereby bringing thousands of jobs to South Australia and setting up SA as a world leader in renewable technology.

In addition to SolarReserve's solar thermal plant proposal, this week Solastor Australia has announced its proposal for a $1.2 billion solar thermal power station in Port Augusta. Solastor's chairman, John Hewson, has said that the project could store a week's worth of energy and would be able to power more than 200,000 homes. This could fill the gap left with the last of Alinta Energy's coal-fired power station shutdown in Port Augusta last month. The solar thermal plant would create 600 construction jobs and more than 100 permanent jobs, which the region so desperately needs.

The Greens have known for many years that a clean energy powered economy is inevitable. However, for Australia to secure all the benefits of lower prices, better technologies, more jobs, competitive advantages and significant export opportunities for innovative Australian technologies and services, building the clean economy needs to start right now. If we do not start now, we will be stuck importing technologies, while our best minds leave to take their ideas to be developed overseas.

To assist with Australia's transition to a new clean energy economy, the Australian Greens have a comprehensive plan entitled Renew Australia—Powering The New Economy. The Greens' plan will ensure that energy generation is at least 90 per cent renewable by 2030 and our energy efficiency is doubled. It will establish a new $500 million government authority, Renew Australia, tasked with planning and driving the transition to a new clean energy system to leverage $5 billion of construction in new energy generation over the next four years. It will create a $250 million clean energy transition fund to assist coal workers and communities with the transition, and it will implement pollution intensity standards to enable the gradual staged closure of coal-fired power stations, starting with Australia's dirtiest, Hazelwood, in Victoria.

The future for the energy market will continue to be a mix of private, public and community infrastructure. To create our new clean economy, the Australian Greens have laid down a detailed road map to achieve at least 90 per cent renewable energy by 2030. With the impressive leaps in technology and the dramatic fall in clean energy costs, it is likely that 100 per cent of our energy needs for our homes, businesses and industry will come from clean power and storage. Our plan to Renew Australia will also allow us to join the world in transitioning from petroleum to electric vehicles and to take advantage of connecting our electricity and transport systems.

Renewable technologies are clean, already create more jobs than coal generation, are driving down power prices and have advanced to a stage where they can provide secure base-load power. Building new fossil fuel-based power stations is already significantly more expensive than wind, and will soon be more expensive than solar. The Greens' plan will meet Australia's energy demand in 2030 more cheaply than business as usual.

Necessity is the mother of invention, and the challenge of global warming will produce exciting technological innovations here in Australia, as we build a fresh pollution-free economy. The Greens' plan includes democratising our energy system and handing the power back to energy users. Consumers of energy are already becoming their own creators of energy. The everyday heroes are those people putting solar panels on the roof of their home or business. In fact, Australia leads the world in rooftop solar installations. Encouraging homes and businesses to generate electricity and trade it directly between each other, will take the power away from big energy companies and return it to the community.

Not everyone has the ability nor incentive to invest in solar panels. Renters, people living in apartments and small-business tenants, all face barriers to getting their electricity from clean energy. To turn Australia's enthusiasm for clean energy into reality, the Greens will put in place policies to allow every home or business that wants to put solar on their roof to do so.

When all types of homes and businesses are able to generate and trade their own power, the democratisation of our energy system will be unstoppable. Jobs will be created and energy bills will be slashed for households everywhere, from public housing tenants to renters to apartment dwellers. The Greens' plan to build new energy infrastructure and retrofit our cities and regions will create new jobs, attract investment and lower power bills for everyone.

This is a future that the Greens are planning for today. Building a pollution-free future is full of economic opportunities and that means jobs in the new clean economy. All the threats and burdens to our economy lie in not responding to the urgency of global warming. The Australian Greens are calling on the federal government to drive a rapid transition and lead the way in building 21^stcentury energy infrastructure to drive Australia's new economy.