Simplifying Climate Change Politics

Tuesday, 3 August 2010

Environment Institute Australia & New Zealand
Perth Green Drinks - 3 August 2010

Ngaala kaaditj Noongar moort keyen kaadak nidja boodja.  We acknowledge Noongar people as the original custodians of this land.

The starting point for Labor is that climate change is real and caused by human activity – and that yes we must act to address this problem.

That human activity has historically been an essential part of our economic development. 

But we know we must delink our economic security from these sources of pollution – for the sake of our environment and climate and our economy.

That the price of inaction is too high a price for our country to pay and one we can’t afford.

Inaction will mean price rises, job losses and lost innovation.

Effective action will bring great opportunities for our nation and Labor is confident that we can meet this challenge and emerge even stronger.

A failure to tackle climate change globally is a significant threat to our water supplies, agriculture, health, biodiversity, tourism, coastal towns, marine life to name but a few. Significant impacts on Western  Australia.

Many Australians understand this and that we need to respond to this challenge.

If we fail to act, the cost to the Australian economy and to future generations will be even greater.

Labor accepts that the science tells us that we need to limit the growth of carbon pollution in our atmosphere to 450 ppm if we are going to have a chance of limiting global temperature growth to two degrees or less. 

The first step has been a commitment that the to cut our pollution levels by at least five per cent by 2020 compared to our pollution levels in 2000.

Further steps must come.

We must embrace a new model of economic growth.

We must create a cleaner economy in which we are not dependent on polluting sources of energy for our economic growth.

Why do I state the obvious and basics?  Sadly they are still politically contested.

This is hard work – work that has been made very hard because of a lack of consensus.

But we must continue to push for genuine progress.

Our starting point has been approach to develop an emissions trading scheme to suit the Australian economy – the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.

An ambitious, economy-wide scheme, which seeks to put a limit on pollution – a limit that reflects the true cost of that pollution for our economy and our environment.   

We brought our scheme to Parliament, which we did twice last year, it took up 11 separate Bills. I sat on no fewer than three committees of inquiry looking at the legislation.

We came very close to achieving a bipartisan consensus on this issue.

We worked, we listened, we negotiated throughout last year. 

Yes - the CPRS is a complex, full of technical detail and focused on achieving long term economic change.

Labor and I think a consensus of scientists and economists believe, that emissions trading is essential to limiting and reducing pollution.

It is ambitious seeking to introduce emissions trading across much of the economy and to introduce it quite fast.

Because acting on climate change is urgent.

We were deeply disappointed at the end of it, with the Greens Party, the Nationals and the Liberal Party voting against the legislation.

I know that the speakers that follow will explain why they took those decisions.

I know the Liberals don’t support a scheme and the greens didn’t believe it went far enough.

Where does that leave the country?

I support the Prime ministers call that the political process must be connected with the community.

The extent to which this was not the case can be measured by the speed with which the parliamentary vote collapsed.

Our political consensus for action was rapidly destroyed by tony abbotts leadership ambition.

The coalition has outlined policies which will see, pollution levels will still increase by an estimated 13 per cent – not reduce by the five per cent promised. 

Australia’s electricity generation is projected to grow by nearly 50 per cent between now and 2030 to meet growing demand. We can’t ignore this fact – no matter how energy efficient we are driven to become. 

We need investment in new sources of energy to meet rising demand and to provide cleaner, more sustainable options for Australian households and the Australian economy.

Recent price increases reflect the fact that investment has not been sufficient in recent years.

We need a clear direction in energy policy, including a proper approach to reducing carbon emissions, so that investment decisions can be made with certainty.

To provide this certainty we must deal with the question of what carbon constraint we will face in the future.

Labor recognises Australian Government’s decisions have an impact on that level of certainty. I know there will be many people here with industry links who are concerned about this.

We must make the investment climate more secure and encourage faster progress towards the cleaner, more efficient sources of energy that our country needs.

Such uncertainty would cost the Australian economy and consumers through higher electricity prices.

This is the approach that Mr Abbott is now advocating. 

Labor wants certainty - and as you know in April, the Government took a difficult decision which deferred the CPRS until at least 2012.  

This decision preceded by the destruction of a parliamentary mandate to take action.

We have not abandoned our commitment to take action on climate change.

But in order to act we need national consensus on this vital, long term issue of national interest.

We need consensus among political parties.

And for this to happen we need consensus in the community even more.
 
It doesn’t mean government can take no action until every member of the community is fully convinced.

Consensus on this issue should not depend solely on a fragile agreement between political parties. 

So Labor will continue to make the case in public and in parliament. 

To build consensus Labor will introduce an independent, properly credentialed source of information and expert advice – a Climate Change Commission – to explain the science of climate change and to report on progress in international action.

This is a key initiative. As my experience in committee debates demonstrated Tony Abbotts team effectively used climate change sceptics to help destroy a parliamentary mandate for action.  

We also support a  Citizens’ Assembly – to work over 12 months.

It can’t just be a debate between experts. I firmly believe this because while yes I firmly believe the majority of Australians do want action – I have been absolutely dismayed by the manner in which climate change sceptics with no scientific credibility have been able muddy the debate. This process will allow ordinary Australians to review the process for themselves.

It will not convince everybody, but nor will it hold the progress to ransom by a few people with extreme views.

The CPRS will be put forward as the starting point for this Citizens’ Assembly.  

Labor remains committed to a market mechanism.

We must push on with further action.

Labor will businesses who take early action to reduce their pollution.  

To give industry certainty emission baselines for industry assistance will be as determined under the CPRS.

Retaining these baselines will encourage action early rather than causing businesses to delay action until a market mechanism is introduced. 

We also need investment to flow into new power generation capacity.

But we must avoid locking in technologies that might be in operation for 30 or 40 years and cause unacceptable levels of pollution.

That’s why all new power stations will have to meet best practice standards for their carbon emissions.

We no longer allow a highly inefficient and dirty power station to be built again in Australia.

By doing this we will help to end the uncertainty that has been holding up investment in the energy sector.

We will also advance renewable energy sources in Australia even further.

We have invested $5.1 billion through the Clean Energy Initiative.

The $1.5 billion Solar Flagships Program is supporting the development of very large scale solar generation plants, right here in Australia.

Interest in the program has been strong, with 52 projects applying for Stage One.  

We want to unlock Australia’s potential to become a world leader in powering our homes and businesses through solar energy.  

We have delivered on our promise to increase the Renewable Energy Target, increasing it by at least four times so that 20 per cent of Australia’s electricity comes from renewable sources by 2020.

This will help drive nearly $19 billion of investment in clean renewable energy.

But we must further accelerate the development of renewable energy and its availability for businesses and consumers.

It’s why Labor will contribute up to $1 billion over 10 years to the investment needed to connect our electricity grid to new sources of renewable energy.

This will do a lot to unlock investment here is WA.

The market rules and the regulation that supports them will remain the basis for assessing investment decisions.

But if a proposal does not win support through those rules, and there is a clear case based on reducing carbon emissions for it to be examined, then funding will potentially be available through this fund.

This is a transitional step, towards an energy market which fully factors in the long term costs of carbon pollution.

Labor is committed to further action to support the development of renewable technologies.

We will invest $100m to support market-based  projects developing renewable technologies. 

This is the framework through which a Labor Government will pursue climate change solutions if it is re-elected.

There are many other elements to Labor approach such as skills the green car project, demand reduction and much more.

Great projects through CSIRO, Natural Resource, R&D and more.

There are also a wide range of energy efficiency programs for families schools and business that the Government has put in place.

In closing – and I look forward to further discussion with you – Informed Australians – professionals, we need you to communicate with the wider community why this is important.

It is vitally important Australia make progress on this issue. We have a great deal at risk if the world fails to act on this issue cut emissions.

The rest of the world can’t be expected to act – unless a rich, carbon intensive economy like Australia is prepared too.

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