RENEWABLES
FEDERAL BUDGET MISSES A TRICK, BUT STATES PICK UP THE SLACK by Kane Thornton, Chief Executive, Clean Energy Council
With the COVID-19 pandemic plunging Australia into its first recession in almost 30 years, the October Federal Budget was touted by the Federal Government as one of the most important since the Second World War. As such, it represented an enormous opportunity to modernise the energy system and create the building blocks for a renewable energy export industry, all while significantly reducing Australia’s emissions profile.
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nfortunately, the Budget failed to grasp this opportunity fully, all but ignoring the considerable potential of renewable energy to create jobs, drive investment and reduce emissions. However, the Budget did provide some positive signs – both from the government and the opposition – that the ideological heat may finally be coming out of the energy policy debate and that some degree of bipartisanship on energy could be possible. Missed opportunity, but some progress made In the leadup to the Budget, the Clean Energy Council outlined its vision for the economic recovery in A Clean Recovery, a comprehensive package of reforms to use renewable energy to inject more than $50 billion into the economy and create over 50,000 jobs in regional Australia while building the infrastructure necessary to develop a 21st-Century electricity system. Despite receiving enormous support from right across the spectrum – including big business, community groups, energy experts and economists – the government ignored most of the measures outlined in A Clean Recovery, passing up the opportunity to create thousands of clean energy jobs and drive unparalleled investment in rural Australia.
