MEDIA STATEMENT: Thursday, 23 November

The Australian Wind Alliance says it’s time to get on with good energy policy, and stop endless talks on unproven ideas.

“Enough is enough. Endless new ideas to address Australia’s energy issues are part of the problem,” AWA national coordinator Andrew Bray said.

“Embarking on lengthy negotiations over the federal government’s latest idea, a National Energy Guarantee (NEG), means wasting more time, for no good reason. Our country was already dragged through months of consultation and work over the design of a Clean Energy Target - which a wide cross-section of the country agreed would work.

“The NEG is expected to lock in fewer renewable projects and more pollution, so why are we still talking about it?

"This latest plan isn’t about solving the energy crisis as much as it is about pandering to a handful of coal obsessed, climate-denying Coalition MPs.

“State and territory governments in Australia are leading the way in building new, clean energy supply and additional energy storage. We should champion them to do more. Given how long it will take to argue over the detail of the NEG this might actually be our only option.

“The longer we wait for meaningful action at a federal level, the more we look to places like the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia for the sort of leadership that people are desperately craving. Old, polluting and unreliable coal-fired power stations are closing - we’ve seen that in SA and Victoria, and Liddell will close soon in New South Wales. We can’t afford to wait. If the federal government isn’t capable of doing what’s required, then our states certainly can.”