Source: Sydney Morning Herald by David Wroe
THE Gillard government will fireproof its $10 billion green technology fund against an attack from any future Coalition government by forcing Tony Abbott to repeal legislation in order to shut down the flow of money.
Ensuring its clean energy policies are carved in stone even if it loses next year’s election, Labor indicated yesterday that the funding for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation would be ”specifically appropriated” in legislation to be introduced to Parliament next month.
The earmarking of $2 billion each year for five years, starting in 2013-14, was recommended by an expert panel, chaired by Reserve Bank board member Jillian Broadbent, whose report was released yesterday. Treasurer Wayne Swan said the government would be ”accepting all of the recommendations that have been made in this report”.
The Gillard Government is seeking to protect its green energy technology fund. Photo: Jessica Shapiro
The announcement came as government figures showed Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions rose 0.6 per cent to 546 million tonnes during the year to December 2011, though the nation is still on track to meet its Kyoto Protocol target.
The green fund will provide loans and co-investment to clean energy companies in a bid to boost the sector, which Mr Swan said was the victim of ”financial barriers” to investment. The fund was a key demand from the Greens in their climate change negotiations with the government, and is meant to work in concert with the carbon tax and the renewable energy target to transform Australia to a clean energy economy.
Ms Broadbent said the review panel, which included investors Ian Moore and David Paradice, recommended the money be set in legislation because the fund was highly valuable and needed to be protected.
”You want to give it the best chance to have some longevity,” she said. ”I guess if we hadn’t found so much merit in the concept and the workability of the organisation itself, we might not have done it that way.”
Asked if the Coalition’s fierce hostility to the fund influenced the recommendation, she said: ”I think that influenced it. It’s really saying that there’s got to be a conviction that you undo this, rather than treating it lightly.”
Half of the green fund will go towards renewable energy projects such as wind, solar and geothermal, and the other half to low-emissions and energy efficiency measures. Carbon capture and storage is excluded.
Ms Broadbent said the fund would follow stringent commercial criteria but would be akin to an ethical investor, aiming to move Australia towards a low-carbon future.
The government intends the fund to make a profit.
Greens leader Christine Milne said the fund was necessary to deliver the scale of renewables needed to battle climate change.
Opposition climate spokesman Greg Hunt called on the government to keep the lid on any funding until after the next election, given allocations of money would not begin until July 2013 – just weeks before a likely poll.
Giving big business tax breaks and incentives is a really good start but if we could get each and every Australian household using cleaner and greener electricity sources we would be doing something amazing. Perhaps offering incentives and rebates to those people who are least able to afford it would be a good start. I love the “Abbot proof fence” headline…very clever
Yeah I loved the headline also.
Ultimately, they need to legislate the changes. Make it illegal to use brown sourced electricity say by 2020. Force consumer change rather than placing a band aid on the obvious wounds.
Forcing consumer choice is ok if the consumers are able to afford green electricity. Those people less able to pay (the unemployed, pensioners blue collar workers) should be given incentives and discounts to ensure that they are not punished for something that is beyond their choice. I totally agree with you about making brown electricity illegal but we need to make sure that the infrastructure AND the ability to pay for green energy is up and running before that time
Ultimately, we will be forced into this change in infrastructure and consumerism, willingly or not. Coal is not a renewable energy source. Tasmania are lucky – by and large their energy is coal free. The mainland is centuries behind.
The irony of the energy debate is that we recently heard “gas” being sold as a renewable energy resource. We need to stop propagating that lie. It takes 50,000 years + to have a resource worth utilising. That isn’t renewable. Use oil as a comparison – its also renewable at around the same rates but consider this; we have already reached peak oil and it only took us 100yrs to do that!
Alternatives are still being bandied about as being unaffordable, a label that is delaying the inevitable. I think that species survival needs to be the focus here, not holding back essential progress for the sake of the poor and what they can afford. Couple the essential change with legislation and other economic mechanisms such as rebates and other incentives will certainly be a big step in the right direction.
Ultimately, the world is shrinking. Our dependency on “renewable” natural resources has driven natural capital such as coal, oil, gas ect to the point of depletion. The belt will only tighten from here, as we face dwindling pay loads. As a result, excessive heating / cooling, transportation, ect ect will be a thing of the past. You wont be able to afford the family car trip holidays; it will just be too expensive. Food will stop being shipped around the globe for a quick buck. Communities will be forced into becoming more independent (rather than relying so much on imports / exports). Life is about to change, soon, for all of us and its unavoidable.
(Don’t get me wrong, here – we live below the poverty line also and struggle now with an excessive electricity bill – around 3k per year. I am writing this purely as an insensitive scientist).
Lol…insensitive…you?! I totally agree with you and know that effecting change isn’t easy. I also know that unless you are able to sway the voting populace you have bucklies and none of effecting any change whatsoever. Tasmania’s green electricity is a bit of a fib as a fair bit of our electricity is sourced from Victoria via a nice hidden pipeline. No-one really knows about that and Tasmania isn’t self sustainable on Hydro or wind at the moment. We are trying to save for a turbine. Tasmania is subject to “The Roaring 40′s” much more than it is to direct sunlight. Friends of ours live off the grid (not because of desire, but simply because they can’t get electricity, sewerage or phone at their place they are too remote) and have solar as their main source of electricity. They have a shipping container full of batteries that store the energy that the solar panels collect but our friends say that solar is not the way to go in a place like Tasmania where 3/4 of the year, the sun isn’t able to charge up the panels and they rely on a diesel generator a whole lot more than they would like to. We need to ensure that the ‘appropriate’ green technology is used and that people are not being taken for a ride by shysters offering them cheap solar panels that are next to useless. Change is never easy and again, I will say, you really have to show people what is in it for them to get them to seriously consider alternatives. There are many ways to reduce our reliance on brown electricity including small communities getting together and paying for wind turbines to generate the communities power. I saw that Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall is backing this idea and helping small communities in the U.K. to do this (love that man!). As dire and desperate as our situation is becomming, we really can’t afford to take the compassion out of our reasoning or we run the risk of losing what it is that we are fighting for in the first place.
For sure, Narf. I totally agree. Joe and I went to an energy summit last year. It opened our eyes so much to the energy crisis. Its ridiculous to be sending electricity more than 150kms away – you lose half of it through transmission. Regardless, the mid north and far north NSW coast gets its electricity from Newcastle – some 500 – 600 kms away. Its insane to imagine they are sending it across the strait from Vic to Tas. That mere thought implodes my head.