Speech to the APAC Hydrogen Summit, Brisbane

Stretching from inland, through Meanjin country here and down to the Logan River, these lands and waters have been under the stewardship of the Turrbal and Yuggera peoples for millennia, a fact we acknowledge and celebrate.

I also want to acknowledge a fact.

The fact that Australia’s energy transformation is also an opportunity to transform indigenous disadvantage into First Nations opportunities.

We are rebuilding our energy system and this is an opportunity to work with First Nations communities to build engagement, equity and ownership, so that we move from managing welfare, to managing wealth.

When we announced our Hydrogen Headstart policy for example, we announced $2 million to facilitate and enable First Nations engagement in projects bidding for support.

This $2 million itself is a fairly modest down payment, but it is designed to unlock access to much more: that is, First Nations participation in the multi-billion dollar creation of a green hydrogen industry in Australia.

Some of you might have heard me observe previously that 1% of Australian renewable energy projects have an element of indigenous ownership, compared to 20% in Canada. This shows we have a lot to do, but it also shows me there is a way to do it.

I, and the Government, are determined to do it, in partnership with the renewable energy industry and First Nations Peoples.

There are a number of people here I would like to acknowledge.

Mick de Brenni, the Minister for Energy and Clean Economy Jobs. A friend, and a key partner in our efforts to decarbonise our country and grow massive economic and jobs opportunities as we do so. Queensland is integral to our plans and it’s a delight to work with Mick.

Anja Hajduk, the State Secretary, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, of the Federal Republic of Germany. I’ll be saying more about Australia’s key partnership with Germany in this speech, and it’s an honour to have you here Anja.

And Ms. Daiva Garbaliauskaitie Vice-Minister of Energy of the Republic of Lithuania. Thank you for coming all the way here to participate in this important conference on Australia’s role in the Green Hydrogen supply chain.

It’s my pleasure and privilege to open the second day of the Asia-Pacific Hydrogen Summit 2024.

There are many events on the hydrogen calendar, but this is one of the region’s most important, proudly supported by the Australian Government through AusTrade.

Austrade supports this conference because hydrogen is vital to our trade and export future.

Friends in recent months, some commentators and some politicians have declared Australia’s Green hydrogen industry dead.

In fact, they’ve celebrated in it. Gloated about any delay any setback.

This says more about them and their climate inactivism than it does about Australia’s green hydrogen pipeline.

Let me be clear: Australia’s green hydrogen pipeline is alive and healthy.

With any big economic change, there’s going to be some delays, some changes to expectations, some projects which ultimately don’t proceed.

But the facts are clear.

The announced pipeline for hydrogen here, is valued at more than $200 billion.

We have 50-plus companies on the ground now, progressing hydrogen investments in Australia.

Of the more than 100 projects – a quarter are operating, or under construction.

But it wasn’t always like this.

Last year I spoke at this conference - on that occasion via videolink - about how Australia’s natural resources and our people mean we have a massive comparative advantage when it comes to building a global-scale hydrogen industry.

What was missing, when we came to government, was the policy and financial support for industry that would allow it to take the big leaps that will make Australia competitive.

We heard a clear message from you – we could not afford to let Australia slip behind in the global race for new industries.

Certainly not in the context of the rest of the world acting.

In a few short years, the world has committed to monumental investments in hydrogen through national plans designed to take advantage of the global shift to net zero.

We’re seeing it with the US Inflation Reduction Act, the European Green Deal, the Made in Canada Plan, the Make In India policy and many more.

We weren’t going to leave Australia’s green hydrogen potential to drift behind in this environment.

So we moved quickly – collaborating with state and territory governments - to fix that.

Last year our new Hydrogen Headstart program supercharged mobilisation of project development across the sector.

We’re now finalising first round recipients from a shortlist of six very high-quality projects.

At the time, we called Headstart a downpayment on a broader response to those major international developments I mentioned earlier.

That broader response came in this year’s Budget – our landmark ‘Future Made in Australia’ vision.

Making renewable hydrogen is central to securing a Future Made in Australia.

Industry called for long term production incentives. So we’ve put in place about $8 billion over the next decade for exactly that.

We expect this to unlock at least $50 billion in private investment.

We anticipate it will help sustain 10 to 20 large projects - both export and for domestic manufacturing.

And collectively this could support at least 5GW of electrolyser capacity by 2030, producing over 1 million tonnes of hydrogen annually.

I don’t have to tell you, that’s a huge quantity of hydrogen – enough to decarbonise the equivalent production of all Australia’s ammonia for fertiliser, alumina for aluminium, and iron for steel.

This is what powering a Future Made in Australia looks like.

And we’re getting on with it. I’ve just flown in last night from Canberra, where we passed the framework legislation, the Future Made In Australia Bill, through the House.

This week also saw the introduction of the important Guarantee of Origin Bill, which is key for the certification of Australian renewable hydrogen.

The first phase of these production incentives in already place via Hydrogen Headstart.

We were so impressed with the quality of bids in Round One that we announced an additional $2 billion in the budget.

As the name suggests, it’s been designed to support innovative first movers, to help you overcome commercial barriers, to give industry a headstart.

The second phase is through the Hydrogen Production Tax Incentive: a demand-driven, long term tax incentive for those who can race to production this decade.

Project developers will receive $2 for every kilogram of eligible renewable hydrogen they produce for a maximum of 10 years before 2040.

These programs will drive economies of scale, accelerate investment, reduce the cost gap, and help major projects progress through to final investment decision.

As the Australian Hydrogen Council said: the tax incentive "signals to Australian investors, and the rest of the world, that Australia is back in the game for attracting project investment, and the technology, capability and workforce that come with it."

We know jobs need investment, and investment needs certainty. We know that was missing for a decade.

Which is why we’re getting on with it - this year, and this decade.

Delivering investment now and providing the scaffolding of long-term policy security ensures certainty about Australia’s energy future.

Now these policy initiatives sit within a broader strategy of governments working together to foster the green hydrogen industry.

The first National Hydrogen Strategy was released in 2019. Australia, and the world have changed a lot when it comes to green hydrogen, and the strategy was in pretty desperate need of a refresh.

So today, I’m very pleased to release Australia’s new National Hydrogen Strategy.

This is a critical step in providing a framework for the long-term certainty needed to support industry to make Australia a global hydrogen leader.

Developing the strategy has brought together every state and territory Minister and the Commonwealth – Liberal, Labor, and Green. It means this is a truly collaborative, coordinated national strategy.

This updated strategy recognises that hydrogen will play an important complementary role to electrification by opening net zero pathways for hard-to-abate industries.

By using our world-leading renewable energy resources to make renewable hydrogen, we can deliver new domestic manufacturing opportunities such as green metals and chemicals, low carbon liquid fuels, and energy exports to our international partners.

Crucially, this strategy moves beyond the early stages of industry.

It sets a national renewable hydrogen production target of 15 million tonnes per annum, by 2050, supported by 5-yearly milestones.

This nationally agreed target reinforces our policy commitments. Australia is ready for the world’s top hydrogen investors.

The target – supported by those five-yearly milestones - will also support long term infrastructure planning, including for renewable energy production and ports.

And given all this, we have been clear in the strategy that it must reinforce the importance of ongoing leadership and collaboration between all levels of government to shepherd large-scale projects from development to operation.

Of course, realising our new targets – let alone our stretch potential – will need a huge uplift in investment, including by partner countries.

Which is why our international partnerships are so important.

In particular, I want to acknowledge here the work and cooperation of Germany, represented here today by Anja Hajduk. Anja’s been instrumental in strengthening Australia’s relationship and ambitions with Germany.

But the collaboration between Germany and Australia occurs across the board. Green hydrogen co-operation has been central to the discussions between Chancellor Sholz and Prime Minister Albanese, between Vice Chancellor Habeck and myself, between government officials at all levels and between the private sectors.

Germany, the industrial powerhouse of Europe, will need a lot of green hydrogen. It can’t make it all by itself.

It needs partners. Australia aspires to be Germany’s indispensable partner when it comes to green hydrogen.

Germany’s work to support the growth of an international clean hydrogen market, through its H2 Global scheme is hugely important for the future of this industry.

Germany wants to invest in the development of green hydrogen around the world and has asked Australia to be a key partner. An invitation we have accepted.

Which is what makes today an historic day.

Once I've finished speaking here, I'll join State Secretary Hajduk to sign a deal with Germany, under the H2Global mechanism for $660 million of shared investment in Australian hydrogen projects.

This joint funding, available over the next ten years, supports new commercial supply and access to the European market, including through guaranteed offtake arrangements.

In the interim, the Australian and German Governments will work together – in consultation with industry – on the detailed design of the mechanism.

We’ll have more to say on the design and specifications of this trade window following consultation with industry, but for now, today’s announcement marks a significant step in building a strong international hydrogen market, supporting energy security in Australia and Germany.

Now this H2Global partnership comes on the back of existing strong co-operation through our hydrogen accord, HyGATE and HySupply, which will continue and will indeed expand.

Through HyGATE, Germany is already strongly supporting:

• The Edify Green Hydrogen project, supporting the Townsville Green hydrogen hub
• The Vast Solar work with Fichtner on a methanol production plant in Port Augusta
• The Hysata electrolyser production facility in Port Kembla
• And the ATCO project to develop an electrolyser and ammonia facility in the Illawarra.

I’m also pleased that we’re continuing to expand our work with Germany under our Hydrogen Accord, expanding from supporting collaborative research on green hydrogen supply chains through the HySupply study last year, to now looking at green metals.

With our partners at Germany’s Federal Ministry for Education and Research we have agreed to a new Green Metals for Sustainable Steel initiative.

This is about how Australian green iron can support the decarbonisation of Germany’s economy. It will investigate decarbonising hard to abate sectors, while maintaining jobs and the productive capacity of core industries.

And I’m pleased that the University of New South Wales has been selected to lead a team of academic and industry experts on behalf of Australia’s consortium.

All of this feeds into the broader climate cooperation agreement that Australia and Germany are entering in to.

It builds on our significant bilaterial activity and signals a move to support regular exchanges and joint work across energy efficiency, energy security and transitions, international climate action and cooperation, and of course hydrogen.

All this is a massive vote of confidence in Australia’s green industry.

Don’t just take the word of the Australian Government that Australia’s green hydrogen pipeline is one of the strongest in the world.

The Government of Germany agrees and they are putting their money where their mouth is.

Coalition’s alternative plan to destabilise the transition

Now, while I don’t intend to dwell on it today, because there is so much positive news to focus on, it would be remiss of me not to point out that all this progress is at risk.

In fact, it is no exaggeration to say, green hydrogen will be on the ballot paper at the next federal election.

A re-elected Albanese Government will see continued support for and investment in Australia’s green hydrogen future.

A Dutton Government would see support stall, investment chilled and an expensive and risky frolic with nuclear energy instead.

To be fair, the LNP are at least explicit. They would abolish Hydrogen Headstart and the production incentives.

And without those two things, the hydrogen hubs would also cease to exist.

The Coalition, led by Peter Dutton, does not believe in a Future Made in Australia. I mentioned earlier that this week we passed the Future Made in Australia Bill through the House of Representatives. This was against the vociferous opposition of the LNP at every stage of the bill’s passage.

They don’t have a vision for a net zero future because they don’t believe in the need for net zero itself.

And while they are explicit about their withdrawal of support for hydrogen, they are less honest about the impact of their nuclear policy. A policy which would see renewable investment certainty evaporate.

Why would a renewable energy company want to invest in Australia if they know they will be competing with a massive government subsidy and distortion of the market in the order of hundreds of billions of dollars?

It’s a recipe to chill investment in clean, cheap, renewable generation.

And it’s a recipe for unreliability.

Their seven nuclear reactors would provide just 3.7% of Australia’s energy needs by 2050.

Chilling investment in energy now, because of the waft of a promise of 3.7% of Australia’s energy needs in decades time is an incredibly risky proposition.

But friends, while this is a real risk, I choose to concentrate on the path that I am confident that the nation will stick too: a much more positive and optimistic approach.

Green hydrogen, and the industries it can support, will help grow our national income, and add to our prosperity, not threaten it.

The transformation is a once-in-a-generation opportunity we can’t afford to miss – an industry that could generate almost $30 billion per year and over 30,000 jobs.

That’s before we consider the jobs and national income in downstream industries – like green steel and green chemicals

Today we’ll have signed the $660 million H2Global deal, we’ve announced the new National Hydrogen Strategy and we’ve launched critical research into Australia’s offering for new global supply-chain inputs like green iron and steel.

Today is a good day for Australia’s energy future, and it’s a good day for Australia’s export future.

It shows that with policies and programs that are well thought through, we can create the certainty to attract investment and grow industry and jobs in Australia now.

We can, and will, solidify our place as a key trading partner for global friends, making the most of the advantages Australia has as the world shifts to its net zero future