Press conference at Clean Energy Summit, Sydney

KANE THORNTON: Good morning. Can I welcome you all to the Australian Clean Energy Summit where we have over 1,500 leading executives of the clean energy industry and the message here today is that the industry's incredibly proud of what it's achieved over the last five years. We've doubled the amount of renewable energy in this country in just five years, despite some challenging policy including clean environment. We now stand ready with confidence that we can now deliver 82% renewable energy by 2030.

Yes, it won't be easy. There are plenty of challenges that are in front of the industry now with strong political leadership, strong policy environment, we are confident that we can deliver the wind, the solar, the hydro, the energy storage, and, of course, the grid of the 21st century to achieve that 82% renewable energy target by 2030. Thank you. 

CHRIS BOWEN: Thanks, Kane. Great to be here, another great conference for the Clean Energy Council. Congratulations. I want to take this opportunity to make the announcement today of the Albanese's plan for six sectoral plans to lead into our 2035 and 2050 targets which will be very important. I look forward to engaging with Clean Energy Council, other key stakeholders in the energy sector on the electricity and energy plan and, of course, across the board with the sector plans.
It is now the flavour of the month to say our plan's too ambitious. It was the flavour of the month a little while ago to say they weren't ambitious enough. They are ambitious and achievable and will continue to be so. 

The alternative is not to act and to leave Australia behind in the global race, reduce emissions and to miss a massive opportunity for our country. That won't be happening under our government. I can take one or two questions. I've got a meeting with a State colleague shortly so I can't stay for too long but over to you for questions.

JOURNALIST: Can I ask about the plan. It's not descriptive, it doesn't include a target, what is it, if you don't mind explaining in a little bit more detail of what they are aiming to achieve?

CHRIS BOWEN: What we're aiming to achieve is guidance to investors around the world that for each sector, this is how the Government envisaged the decarbonisation to development. So it won't be sector-by-sector targets, but it will be quite detailed plans but today I'm announcing we're going to write the plans, today I’m beginning the consultation. It will be wrong to say this is what it will look like at the end. It will be a process over coming months.

JOURNALIST: Minister, manufacturing CEOs are particularly worried about the closure of Eraring in 2025. What's the Federal Government plan to make sure the lights stay on that prices don't spike?

CHRIS BOWEN: I refer you to a very fine podcast, Renew Economy, where I answered this question last week. And I made the point that it is perfectly appropriate that people consider how Eraring's closure will be factored into the grid. I note that there are several units there. Obviously, the NSW Government doesn't want to see Eraring stay open for any longer than it needs to. It is perfectly appropriate to factor in what state the grid will be in in 2025 and talking to Origin Energy and its potential owners of the future about staging the closure. But that will be a conversation which will focus on matters of months, not years. 

JOURNALIST: Minister, you said the 2035 target would be strong. Any indication?

CHRIS BOWEN: No. It's going to be good.

JOURNALIST: Why not have sector-by-sector targets and why not bring the net zero target earlier than 2050 given the climate crisis we seem to have found ourselves in?

CHRIS BOWEN: The approach of this Government will always be to make it achievable as well as ambitious. Now, people - not you, but others - call for higher targets, but they've got to explain how they do it. The Greens have a position of a 2035 net zero. Well, explain how you're going to do that. It's not realistic. It's not achievable. Again, 43% some people said wasn't ambitious. Now people are saying it's too ambitious, it's 82 leads into 43, underpinning 43 together with the other sectors.

But the plan we announced, and whatever the 2035 target is, which I will announce with the Prime Minister when it's ready, after receiving CCA advice, which is very important, it's now a process under the Act. That's what we put into the law of the land, a processing act, and today I've announced more details about how we're going to consult about that. It will be a good target, it will be ambitious but, importantly, when I'm here before you announcing it, and you ask me how you're going to achieve it, what are the levers you will pull to get there, I'll have answers to those. Others who call for stronger targets and this and that, don't have those answers. They can't say how they would achieve it. We always will. Anything else?

JOURNALIST: Minister, on gas power, what role do you think that new gas power plants will play in keeping the lights on?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, there's two. There's Kurri Kurri and Colongra and they're well advanced and they will play a role. They'll play a role. Okay, got to go. 

JOURNALIST: Sorry, Minister. 

CHRIS BOWEN: Last one. 

JOURNALIST: You're looking at the offshore wind submissions, I think, currently. Can you give any steer on kind of the responses you've received? 

CHRIS BOWEN: There's only one zone for consultation as we speak, the Southern Ocean, because Hunter has closed. Southern Ocean, there's a range of views, as you would imagine. I think it's quite different in Victoria to South Australia. That's understandable. I think we've shown through Gippsland and Hunter, that we take that community feedback seriously. I've made changes in both the zones so far. That's a good thing. Shows the consultations genuine.

I do not know yet how I respond because the consultation is still ongoing, and I don't respond to each submission. I weigh it all up in total at the end and reach a balanced judgment about the best interests of the country and the regions impacted by where the zone should be. That's what I do on Southern Ocean like everything else.