We thank the Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment Growth for the opportunity to make a submission to the Committee’s Inquiry Into Australia’s Transition to a Green Energy Superpower.
As WWF states in their report 'Making Australia a Renewable Export Powerhouse':
“Few places in the world are as well endowed with the resources needed to prosper in a low-carbon world than Australia. Australia has a large land area and some of the best solar and wind resources in the world. We have mineral deposits essential to the development of clean energy technologies. We have expertise, trust, a stable democracy and strong existing trade relationships.
Meanwhile, some of our biggest trading partners such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore and even Europe face significant challenges decarbonizing their energy sectors. They have higher populations, less land and a lot less sunshine.
This means that, Australia has the resources to not only decarbonize Australia’s energy system at comparatively low-cost and high reliability, but to help our neighbours too through exporting our renewables to the world. In the process, renewables will underpin the economic competitiveness of our manufacturing, resources and agricultural sectors, attracting new industries to the Australian economy”.
RE-Alliance agrees that there are significant trade and decarbonisation opportunities associated with Australia becoming a green energy superpower.
Summary of key points:
- RE-Alliance supports moves towards Australia becoming a Renewable Energy Superpower, but there is lots of work for the Government in making sure Australians benefit
- Regional communities must be key stakeholders in the transition, not subjects of it
- Australia needs a National Energy Transition Authority to coordinate regional economic plans
- The rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to self-determination, and the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent must be front and centre of public policy development around the energy transition
- We need to update environment and planning laws to facilitate appropriate development
- The Federal Government can support regional communities to benefit directly from large-scale projects by instating community co-ownership and co-investment models