Interview with Jeremy Jones, ABC Capricornia Rockhampton

JEREMY JONES: Gladstone's becoming a popular spot for the Federal Government to roll out announcements linked to its Future Made in Australia scheme.

The Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, was in Gladstone this week to spruik its $93 million contribution to help the Queensland Alumina Project in Gladstone to decarbonise its operations. And Minister Bowen joins you now. Minister, thanks for your time this morning.

CHRIS BOWEN: Pleasure, Jeremy, good morning.

JEREMY JONES: Now, there have been several announcements out of Gladstone recently for money being poured into the green energy sector. Are there more on the horizon?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, inevitably there's more to do in Gladstone, but yes, yesterday, I was at QAL where we're co-investing more than $90 million to help them introduce what's called 'double digestion', I won't bore you with the science, but basically it reduces emissions by 274,000 tonnes a year.

Now obviously that's important for the climate, but it's also important for Gladstone's industrial future. We all know that QAL has been a very, very important employer in Gladstone since the 60s, and around the world investors and consumers will want to know that the products that they're buying or investing in are carbon neutral, and if businesses can't do that, they're going to miss out on business.

So this is very important for QAL’s future, it's a co-investment, we're investing and they're investing to ensure that that wonderful site at Gladstone can continue for many years to come.

I also was out looking at the new hydrogen electrolyser production in Gladstone by FFI. Now some people might think, oh, you know, is green hydrogen real, is it going to happen? Well, it's already being manufactured right there in Gladstone in terms of the electrolysers, and it's a very big project which will employ lots of locals in due course; it's already employing some, it's going to employ more, it's already up and running and making electrolysers and there's a lot more to do there as well, and we've got big plans for green hydrogen, which is going to be very important for Gladstone's future.

JEREMY JONES: We've been hearing a lot of announcements in Gladstone. What have you heard from people in Gladstone about being able to, I guess, supply a workforce to meet the demand of these jobs?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, I mean, I think we just have to be honest – Gladstone is of course, like many places, going through economic change, and there are lots of great employers in Gladstone, and they will supply jobs for many years to come, but we want to make sure that there's enough jobs when that employment changes. We want to ensure that there's enough jobs for young people in Gladstone to stay if they wish, if they want to stay in Gladstone when they're finished school and TAFE and uni, that they can, and that's going to require big investments. And we want to give people, new people the opportunity to go to Gladstone and live there and enjoy the wonderful lifestyle that goes with living in Gladstone that you know so well, that I know from visiting regularly over the years.

So I think that's a good problem to be managing, making sure we have enough people for jobs that we're creating, that's a good problem to be managing.

JEREMY JONES: You're hearing from the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen. And Minister, electric bills, electricity bills, Peter Dutton mentioned in his Budget reply speech that energy is the economy, and I think a few Queenslanders will be quite relieved that they probably won't be paying an electricity bill until next year considering the subsidies from the Queensland Government, and now the Federal Government.

When these sort of rebates and subsidies are no longer in place, are you confident electricity bills, we will see them decrease?

CHRIS BOWEN: Yeah, in fact there's figures out later today which show energy bills coming down, and this is a sign that the plan, while, you know, we have a long way to go, and there's still big cost of living pressures for people, the plan is working in relation to renewable energy being the cheapest form of energy.

We recognise that people are doing it tough, so the Miles Government's got their $1,000 rebate, we've got our $300 rebate. That provides real cost of living relief, when you put them together for Queenslanders, that's a big difference on energy bills over the year, but of course, as you say, they're the long-term plans, and the fact of the matter is that energy bills, after a rocky period where energy prices have been going upright around the world over the last two years, the biggest energy crisis since the 1970s, governments and countries around the world have been dealing with, that there is some good news on the horizon, that energy bills are starting to come down.

JEREMY JONES: And with that report out today, can you give us a bit of a sneak peek – how much are energy bills looking to come down?

CHRIS BOWEN: No, no, it's not – there will be further figures out today, later in the day. I can't pronounce those on your show this morning, but you know, I can tell your listeners that the fact of the matter is that renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy; yes, the pressure from the global energy crisis has come off a little bit, and as we've got more renewable energy in the system, that does mean that, you know, in different markets around the country, in different ways, energy bills are starting to come down.

JEREMY JONES: Oh, look, Minister, we look forward to seeing those figures, and a big thanks for your time this morning.

CHRIS BOWEN: Great pleasure, Jeremy, good on you. Nice to chat.