Address to the Jobs and Skills Summit

I'm sorry I can't be with you today, but you are in the very capable hands of my colleagues, including my Assistant Minister Jenny McAllister. 

Well, at the election, I said that the world's climate emergency is Australia's jobs opportunity and now we want to work with you to make that a reality. 

If we are going to be successful in setting Australia up to take advantage of our opportunities, and become a renewable energy superpower then it needs to be not a whole of government effort, not a whole of governments effort, but a whole of society effort. 

Because we need to work fast to make up for wasted time, making our energy sector fit for the future and restoring Australia's climate credentials. 

But we need to work even faster to get in place the workers to drive this transformation. The stakes are very high. 

We aren't just talking about driving down power bills and delivering a cleaner future for our children, as important as that is. We're also talking about an economic transformation. 

This is a remarkable economic opportunity for our country, but also a challenge. 

When I think about the potential obstacles on our journey to becoming a renewable energy powerhouse, skill shortages and supply chain constraints are high on my list. 

But if we get it right, the dividend is large for our country. Our Powering Australia policy will deliver 82 per cent renewable energy by 2030, supercharging $76 billion of investment and creating more than 604,000 jobs, five out of six of them in Australia's regions. 

To achieve our goals we need more workers at every stage of our renewables revolution, upskilling current workers, attracting new workers, training the next generation. 

Last week, Jenny and I hosted a focused Climate Change and Energy Jobs Summit with stakeholders and experts in the sector. 

We focused on three key themes that emerged;

Firstly, clear signals from Government are required to maximize the climate and energy job opportunities. 

Secondly, the energy transformation requires a step change in planning and coordination. 

And thirdly, a placed based approach will help address the unique needs across the regions.

I hope that the outcomes of our mini-summit help inform this summit today. 

I'm very proud that one of the first acts of the Government was the passage of the Climate Change Bill through the House of Representatives and I'm hopeful the Senate in the next two sitting weeks. 

But make no mistake, passage of this legislation isn't job done. It's just the beginning. 

Transforming our energy network and achieving our climate goals, as well as ensuring we have the people and skills to do this is work that we have to get on with.

In the Albanese government we have passion, energy and ideas. But we don't have all the ideas and we certainly don't have all the wisdom. 

So I'm grateful for your time today. But I'm even more grateful for your thoughts, experiences and ideas. 

Over to you. Thank you and I look forward to seeing the outcomes of the summit today.