7 years ago
MORE CALLS FOR CLEAN ENERGY TARGET - GOVERNMENT STILL MISSING IN ACTION
THE HON MARK BUTLER MP SHADOW MINISTER CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY
ANZ has joined the growing chorus of business, energy industry and expert opinion in calling for a Clean Energy Target (CET) to end the current national energy policy vacuum.
Under the Turnbull Government we’ve seen wholesale electricity prices double while pollution has consistently grown, by 1.4 percent in the last year alone.
Today, ANZ CEO, Shayne Elliot stated:
“A national Clean Energy Target with a tough but sensible low emissions benchmark would be part of a balanced policy "suite" for a secure, reliable, affordable and lower-carbon electricity market.”
Mr Elliot, like the Chief Scientist and Labor have previously done, went on to make the case for an orderly transition out of old coal power, to avoid chaotic closures like we’ve seen at South Australia’s Northern and Victoria’s Hazelwood power stations, saying “we welcome the Finkel Review's recommendation of an orderly closure process for existing coal-fired power stations across the country”.
A well-designed CET is not only needed to end the damaging policy vacuum that is sabotaging investment and delivering higher prices and pollution; it is needed urgently.
This is a point made clear by business leaders such as Business SA’s Anthony Penney: “The key thing is that we can’t delay any longer; there needs to be movement on this.”
It has also been made clear by the Finkel Review itself, which stated it “emphasises the urgency of the need for a credible and enduring emissions reduction policy for the
electricity sector to provide investor confidence.”
The urgency of addressing our energy crisis is one reason Bill Shorten has made it clear that Labor wants to work with the Government to implement a well-designed CET before the next election.
However, we still haven’t heard a peep from the government since Labor’s renewed offer of bipartisan cooperation on a CET. The Turnbull Government remains unable to agree with itself on a CET, holding Australians’ hopes of affordable, reliable and clean energy hostage to their internal divisions.
Labor agrees with Mr Elliot that “It is in all of our interests to move beyond old debates and to seek a pragmatic solution to the problem at hand.”
We can’t afford to delay any more – Australian households and businesses need an end to our energy crisis now, not next year or the year after that.
We need Prime Minister Turnbull and Energy Minister Frydenberg to finally put the national interest ahead of base politics and come to the table on a CET.