Interview with Jeremy Lee, ABC South West Victoria

JEREMY LEE: Yes, as we've heard in our news this morning the Albanese Government has officially declared an offshore wind zone in the Southern Ocean off Western Victoria. This is an announcement a lot of people have been waiting for.

You might recall Federal Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen announced the proposed zone and the public consultation process around the middle of last year. The initial proposed zone was around 5,100 square kilometres and stretched from Port MacDonnell in South Australia across to just east of Warrnambool. But after the consultation period the declared zone has been cut back to just one fifth of that, at 1,030 square kilometres.

This is the third officially declared offshore wind zone in Australia. The other two are off the coast of Gippsland and New South Wales.

Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen is on his way to Portland to officially make this announcement but has made time to talk with us this morning.

Minister, welcome once again.

CHRIS BOWEN: Good morning, Jeremy, good to be back with you.

JEREMY LEE: So the zone you have revealed is much smaller than the initial proposal. Just talk us through the factors that have played into the size and location of the declared zone.

CHRIS BOWEN: Yes, it's a result of the consultation that I started last year. I said at the time that the consultation was a serious exercise and I wanted to hear people's views and take into account matters that people wanted to raise with me, and we did that.

We had 3,285 submissions which we worked through. A lot of concern about the Bonney Upwelling, for example, so I've avoided that. The zone I'm declaring doesn't overlap with the Bonney Upwelling. A lot of concern about amenity and other things. So, we've taken all that into account.

This is important, offshore wind is very important for Portland, for the smelter, for the region, for the grid. And we'll still get around almost 3 gigawatts of energy if the zone is fully utilised, the one I'm declaring, and that's enough for 2 million homes and about 1,680 jobs during construction and around a bit more than 800 jobs ongoing for the region.

So that's still good but it's a much smaller area. I don't apologise for that, that's what consultation is about. We've listened to the community, taken on board concerns, moved it further off Port Fairy, 20 kilometres. On most days at 20 kilometres, you won't see the wind turbines. Some days you might get a glimpse of them. But what I've done is taken into account all the concerns.

JEREMY LEE: Right. Just describe for us exactly what the zone has ended up being then. So it's pretty much off the coast, as you say, at 15, 20 kilometres, I think from Yambuk to just east of Warrnambool, in that sort of part of the country.

CHRIS BOWEN: Yeah, yeah, around 1,030 square kilometres as opposed to the 5,130 square kilometres of the original zone. And the way the Act works, Jeremy, the way the Offshore Wind Act works is that basically I have to declare a zone which is either the same size as the one I consult on or smaller. I can't go bigger, i.e., you know, people have to see sort of the maximum size. That's why you sort of go out with a large area to see what people think of it, and then when people raise legitimate concerns and you can take them on board, you still have an area that's viable, you know, it needs to be big enough to have a wind farm, a viable operating wind farm, which this one is. But it certainly takes into account the concerns that people have raised.

JEREMY LEE: Alright. So just with that initial proposal then, I mean were you aware that there were going to be some issues there and that it was quite likely that what you were initially proposing would not be able to go ahead?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well I'm certainly aware that there would be people with strong views, and you don't know until you, you know, do the full consultation. In some areas the consultation is very smooth. So, for example, I've just finished consulting Bass Strait, a much bigger zone than this, in the Bass Strait, and there's quite a bit of community support and, you know, not anywhere near the same sorts of issues that have been raised in relation to the Southern Ocean zone.

But I knew, of course, it's a beautiful part of the world that people live in around there. There's, you know, important whale migration, the Bonney Upwelling is very important. I knew I'd receive strong feedback, but you don't, until you do the consultation, you know, you have to hear that consultation. In every zone I've declared so far, I've made changes after the consultation.

It's important people realise that this didn't just a tick a box exercise. When I go out and consult and I ask people to give feedback, I mean it and it's real and we listen.

JEREMY LEE: Yeah. One of the big pieces of feedback I understand was a petition signed by around 7,000 people against this going ahead, particularly around that sort of Portland area. Did that sort of play any part in your decision as well here?

CHRIS BOWEN: To be fair, Jeremy, what I pay most attention to is the submissions. You know, it's not a popularity contest, but I want to hear people's reasons and concerns. If somebody puts in a submission, I'll be very frank with you, and says, "Look, I don't think climate change is real and I don't support renewable energy", well, I don't give that much attention. But if somebody puts in a submission saying, "I support renewable energy but here's my concerns and here's what I'd like you to take into account", whether it be whale migration or birds, et cetera, then I do take that into account.

The other point to make, Jeremy, is that this is, if you like, an early part of the process. Now that I've declared the zone, then we call for feasibility licences, so the applicants can put in applications for feasibility licences. There are further opportunities for community consultation as part of that process. The applicants have to put in a Community Engagement Plan, a Local Jobs Plan, a Local Benefit Plan, how they're going to interact with fishing, et cetera.

Then whoever I grant a feasibility licence to, has to then apply for a commercial licence, and then separately there's environmental approvals. So this isn't the final tick, this is really stage 1 and the environmental approvals of the final applications are very important as well, and that's a long way to go as well.

JEREMY LEE: Alright, so still some way away. Before we leave some of the opposition to this, there was some quite strong opposition I think from the South Australian Government. Were you surprised by that?

CHRIS BOWEN: No, again I fully expect, you know, these things are controversial when you put them out. The lobster fishers in that end of the world were very concerned. I listened to them, thought they made a good case and excluded that area. Again, this is the consultation working.

But I was keen to see the renewable energy generated and jobs created for the region and for the Portland Smelter to have access to what's called dispatchable renewable energy.

So that's the thing about offshore wind, because it's pretty much always windy out there and very windy this is in a category of its own. It's not like onshore wind where, you know, it's great but when the wind's not blowing it's of no use. Offshore wind is much more reliable, much more constant and much more useful for industry. So that's one of the reasons. And plus, it's jobs rich. It creates a lot more jobs than onshore winds. We know onshore wind's great but offshore wind actually creates more jobs. So that's good news for the area. But of course we've got to get the balance right, that's why the consultation is so important.

JEREMY LEE: Yeah. You mentioned whale migration in there as well which of course is a major thing along our coastline. Are you confident that the declared zone off Warrnambool, off the coast of Warrnambool, isn't going to affect that?

CHRIS BOWEN: I am, but again they'll still have to go through environmental approvals and that's something the Environment Minister will take into account. The thing about whale migration, it's very important, Jeremy, of course, we all support it. Let me make a couple of points about whales.

Firstly, whales co-exist around the world, including the migration, with all sorts of infrastructure; oil rigs, gas rigs, cargo ships, cruise ships, islands, you know. They're sophisticated animals who know how to navigate their way around things.

Secondly, the biggest threat to whales is climate change. You know, the whale's feed stock is very severely affected by warming oceans. Whale malnutrition is a big and growing issue where whales are unable to find the krill and the other things that they eat because of warming oceans.

So if you're concerned about whales, you'll strongly support renewable energy. That doesn't mean we don't take into account legitimate concerns and make sure we're getting it right but, you know, some people, not locals, but some people elsewhere have got a newfound concern for whales, who have never been concerned about whales in the past are now complaining against renewable energy.

Renewable energy to deal with climate change is vital for whale health going forward, but again, you know, we make sure we get the balance right. I've done that in declaring the zone and then they have to go through separate environmental approvals where the applicants will have to show their whale management plans, et cetera.

JEREMY LEE: Alright, 17 minutes away from 9 here on Breakfast. Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen is with us. He's on his way to Portland to be making an official announcement about this declared offshore wind zone for the Southern Ocean a bit later today.

There has been some hope expressed that the Port of Portland could play a role in this, certainly with the initial proposal, they were quite strong about that. What are you expecting the Port of Portland or how are you expecting the Port of Portland might be involved with what has been declared?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well there'll certainly be jobs created for Portland and around maintenance in particular.

The question about the construction of the zones, so, you know, which port is used to actually build the wind farms is a separate question and the Victorian Government has views about that. You know, it's no secret that there's been some problems with that, and environmental approvals for the Port of Hastings. It's up to Victoria to consider their way forward and what port they propose for the actual construction of the zones.

But in terms of maintenance and where the jobs will be, I expect a lot of local jobs to be created around Portland, both in the energy it creates for industry in Portland and in the maintenance of the wind farm going forward.

JEREMY LEE: Would you see Portland as being a replacement in any way for the Port of Hastings?

CHRIS BOWEN: Not a matter for me, Jeremy, that's a matter for the Victorian Government. They're in charge of the port development. I think there's plenty of good options for the port but really, you know, it would be wrong of me to raise hope that Portland might be the port of choice because the Victorian Government's got some options before them.

JEREMY LEE: Alright. Look, the other two declared zones that we mentioned, there's one off the coast of New South Wales in the Hunter Region, the one that's off Gippsland as well, they are both substantially bigger zones that potentially can generate a lot more energy. When you throw this one into the mix now, how attractive do you expect the Southern Ocean one to be to potential developers and companies and so on, given that it is so much smaller and there's much less potential there perhaps?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, look, I still expect of course there'll be interest. Yes, it is smaller. It's about – and it's big enough for, you know, one and a half wind farms, for example. So I still expect interest. But yes, it is smaller zone. That's as a result of the consultation but the zones will be different.

I mean the Gippsland zone is very, very, very big indeed. The Hunter zone is smaller. The Bass Strait zone, which I'm consulting on, is much bigger, that's about 10,000 square kilometres. It's horses for courses. There's no one-size-fits-all. There will still be I expect interest in the Southern Ocean zone but, you know, will it be a lot less turbines than if it was 5,000 square kilometres? Of course.

JEREMY LEE: Alright. As you say, there's probably still a lot to be worked out then once you get to that construction phase as to how that's going to happen and so on. I mean would you expect that we might see infrastructure popping up elsewhere along the coastline, Warrnambool, Port Fairy perhaps, to help necessitate the building of this?

CHRIS BOWEN: Look, as I said, inevitably there'll be onshore jobs created to support the offshore wind industry. I mean at the other end of Victoria, Gippsland for example, the Star of the South Wind Farm proposal in Gippsland has a jobs guide for locals where they put out, you know, in the local cafe, the local libraries and communities, "Here's all the jobs we're going to create and here's how you apply".

I'd like to see similar initiatives developed for Portland and, again, there's the flow-on industries. Again, even if you've just got indirectly, you've got more workers, you've got more maintenance workers, they need a coffee, they need a beer, they need somewhere to sleep. They create economic activity as they go. So I think the economic benefits for the region will be substantial.

JEREMY LEE: Alright. And just those timelines as well then, I mean what would be the earliest do you reckon that we would expect to see something happening if everything goes to plan and – yeah?

CHRIS BOWEN: Oh look, there's some way to go yet. As I said, this is stage 1. Nothing is imminent. I mean if you look around that 2030 to 2032 timeframe, that's when I you should most likely expect to be getting energy off this zone because there's a lot of work to go to make sure we get it right.

JEREMY LEE: Alright. Chris Bowen, thank you very much for taking the time to have a chat to this morning. I know you are pretty busy of course, on your way to Portland. We'll hear more about that tomorrow I'm sure. Thanks again.

CHRIS BOWEN: Thanks Jeremy, thanks for having us on again. Cheers.