Transcript: Media Conference, Energy and Climate Ministerial Council - Canberra

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
PRESS CONFERNCE
CANBERRA
FRIDAY, 1 MARCH 2023

Subjects: Energy and Climate Ministerial Council, $1.7B household energy budget package, Community Engagement Review, Cyber security threats, Capacity Investment Scheme, Carbon Capture, Meta, New Vehicle Efficiency Standards, National Hydrogen Strategy.  

SHANE RATTENBURY: I’m Shane Rattenbury, I’m the ACT Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction and I have the pleasure of hosting this meeting. I’m very delighted to have had all my interstate territory and commonwealth colleagues here for these important discussions. Here in the ACT, we’ve set a high level of ambition for action on climate and emissions reduction. We now have 100 per cent renewable electricity and have so since 2020. This is seen us reduce our emissions to 47 per cent below 1990 levels.

Last year one in five new car sales in the ACT was an electric vehicle. And the observations I made to my colleagues when sharing these experiences today was what this shows is that when governments have ambition, set clear targets and work clearly with their communities you can achieve a lot in a small amount of time.

We certainly welcome moves by the commonwealth to bring fuel efficiency standards. We think this will make an important difference in a jurisdiction where 60 per cent of our emissions come from transport. It was a very positive discussion today, and I’d now like to hand to Minister Bowen to provide a summary of the meeting. Thanks very much.

CHRIS BOWEN: Thanks very much, Shane. And thanks for hosting us so well here in Canberra yesterday and today. As always, state and territory ministers have come together with me and with Minister McAllister in a spirit of cooperation and goodwill on the massive economic and industrial transformation that we are jointly managing, which is Australia’s energy transformation.

In the course of this meeting, firstly, we received the terrible news of the passing of Senator Linda White. The passing of a serving senator is a rare and tragic event. Linda dedicated her life to working people and particularly to working women. She passes with a legacy that she could have and will have been very, very proud of. I know that her loss will be felt very deeply in parliament because her career was long, but her time in parliament was tragically short. And I do want to say on behalf of Senator McAllister, who worked so closely with Linda, and also Minister D’Ambrosio who was a friend of Linda’s for generations, for decades, that the Labor family, the Victorian family and the parliamentary family are feeling the loss today. And, of course, it comes so soon and as we are still dealing with the loss of Peta Murphy, which is a reminder, perhaps, of what’s important in life for all of us.

Well, our friends have gathered here today to make progress, and progress we have made. A couple of matters out of the energy ministers meeting I will refer to specifically. Firstly, we’ve agreed that perhaps one of our most important reforms over the course of the next 12 months will be the issue of customer-owned energy, distributed energy. Whether it is engineering a situation where motorists, electric vehicle drivers reverse charge their car into the grid with high directional charging, whether it’s ensuring that owners of solar energy on the roof get maximum chance to utilise and dispatch that energy, we have an enormous amount of work to do to ensure that our system is designed for customer-owned energy, and currently it’s not.

We have a system of rules, we have a system of grids, we have a system of arrangements which are built for large-scale generation which hasn’t kept up with the massive transformation of our energy system, and ministers have agreed today on a consumer energy roadmap which will inform the work of our officials and ourselves over the coming months and which we intend to sign off on in July.

This is a substantial step forward. This is the key for energy reform in our view in many senses over the coming months and years, and I’m delighted to work on it so cooperatively with states and territories.

We also have heard from Ministers D’Ambrosio, Whitby and de Brenni about recent events in their energy systems, most particularly the impact of natural disasters on transmission and distribution. In an important update, of course, we heard from Daniel Westerman about the learnings and implications of those as well.

We have noted and agreed that the Victorian Government has requested a rule change to ensure that the resilience of our networks is up to date with natural disasters which are increasingly frequent, increasingly severe and increasingly unnatural as a result of climate change. So we’ve got transmission towers that were built in 1981 in the case of these towers in Victoria. We need to ensure that the regulatory regime or network service providers, their ability to improve the resilience of the networks, is fit for purpose for 2024, not for 1981 when they were built but for 2024 in the circumstances they are working under. And that is what we have noted and agreed today.

Also, all three ministers raised the interaction in their experience of these events over recent months of the energy system and the telecommunications system where people without energy as a result of transmission towers falling or distribution networks and telegraph poles experiencing half a million lightning strikes in eight hours in the case of Melbourne, then it’s important that they have access to as much as possible telecommunications infrastructure. And ministers were concerned to ensure that telecommunication companies work closely across the board, and ministers agreed to request that the Minister for Communications provide an update on measures the Commonwealth is taking to support the role of telecommunications companies in improving their network resilience, particularly in relation to regional mobile sites operating without power for longer. And I’ve been communicating with Minister Rowland over the course of the last few hours, and she’s very happy to participate with state and territory ministers on that process.

Importantly, of course, we also received a report, an update from Energy Infrastructure Commissioner Andrew Dyer on his work, this is a report I released around a month ago. I accepted it on behalf to the commonwealth recommendations in principle. State and territory ministers have agreed today with me that we’ll continue to work together particularly on the national developer rating scheme, which was perhaps Andrew’s key recommendation out of the nine. They’re all important, but that national developer rating scheme, which is designed to ensure that members of communities know if they’re dealing with a renewable energy developer that it’s a developer of good faith and good reputation with a good star rating.

We all agree all states and territories and local government have done really important work on improving social licence and improving community engagement. We want to do more. We want to ensure real community benefit. We want to ensure real community consultation. We want to ensure that communities are and feel brought along on this journey. There are many excellent examples. You’ve heard me talk of the farmers in around Goulburn who told me that they were opponents, strong opponents, of wind farms who now think that the wind farm in their community is the best thing that’s ever happened to them or their community.

We want to see more of those stories. We want to work with local government to ensure social licence is improved, and by accepting that process today and working together on the implementation, particularly of the developer rating scheme and all of Mr Dyer’s recommendations, we’ve agreed to do so.

Finally, ministers agreed unanimously to appoint Professor Mary O’Kane AC as the new Chair of AEMO, our market operator, a very important body, and we’re delighted that a woman of Professor O’Kane’s professional experience and long experience has agreed to serve us collectively as Chair of AEMO.

Over to you, folks.

JOURNALIST: Can I ask –

CHRIS BOWEN: We’ll go down here first, and then you, Jane.

JOURNALIST: Thanks. Australia has experienced one of the hottest summers on record this year. There’s some stats coming out in the next week about how people under financial distress have struggled to cool their homes and the health impacts that that’s having on them. What is your government doing to help people adjust their homes, whether it’s energy efficiency or reducing power bills in terms of solar panels? What’s your government doing to help people keep cool in summer?

CHRIS BOWEN: In the last budget we had a $1.7 billion program, household support program, with various elements – support for the CEFC to provide low interest loans to households, support to local government, support to small business for energy efficiency upgrades, renewable energy, solar banks. Again, and I’ve signed bilateral agreements with many of my state and territory colleagues to deliver solar banks, therefore, to give access to the power of solar power to those people who live in apartments or renters or in strata which doesn’t have the ability to add solar panels. Social housing, if you live in social housing you should not miss out on the benefits of renewable energy. Again, I have signed agreements with most of my state and territory colleagues on joint programs to roll out better renewable energy and energy efficiency for solar for social housing. So we’re doing those things. Of course, there’s an enormous task ahead of us. It’s a very big investment, and the states have made very big investments in these things as well.

Jane.

JOURNALIST: Minister, how soon could the developer rating system be up and running? And how many developers have already volunteered be to part of it? And if I can ask a second question on approvals: the Clean Energy Investor Group and Clean Energy Council have both said it’s taking too long for wind and solar farms to be approved even at a federal level under environmental assessments. From your perspective, how long should it take for a project to receive both planning and environmental approvals at the state and federal level?

CHRIS BOWEN: I’ll deal with the second one first. I don’t want to – I cannot put a time frame to be honest in a general sense in a sweeping generalisation to say it should take this long because every development is different. Some developments are in a perfect place with good community support; others are in more difficult places where there’s community issues we work through. So, with respect, it’s not appropriate to say all developments should be approved or disproved in this time frame.

What is appropriate to say, is we all need to be working and we all are working to get to yes or no more quickly. If it’s no, if the development system comes out with a no, then the developer should know as soon as possible so they can move on to other developments. If it’s yes, that’s good news and we can all get on with building the renewable energy.

Now, Minister Plibersek and I have been looking at various options on that. I know the states and the territories with their planning ministers have all looked at that. And Minister Plibersek also has her EPBC reforms which also have some initiatives in that regard. So it’s important. It’s important, and we’re all on a journey to get more renewable energy into the system, and planning is part of it.

Nobody – certainly not any minister and nobody sensible – would argue that the planning requirements should be watered down. We would all, I think it’s fair to say, like to see them dealt with as quickly as possible. And we’re all on that journey.

In relation to the developer rating scheme, it is a complex piece of work, to be fair. It is a piece of work we want to get right so we’re not going to do it in the next couple of weeks. But we are – we have agreed to prioritise it. Developers – I mean, it’s a bit early for developers to express interest or not when there’s no scheme up and running yet, but it’s a scheme which I think good developers will be very keen to participate.

JOURNALIST: Minister Bowen – sorry.

CHRIS BOWEN: You go first and then we’ll go there. We’ll go to Jacob, he’ll get a go.

JOURNALIST: Just a question on the references to supporting more customer-owned distributed energy, there’s some concern that internet-connected inverters, solar inverters in solar panels present a cyber security threat to Australia. What will the consumer energy roadmap be doing to ensure that those types of components are secure? And will there be consideration to an industry-related program to ensure that there’s a sovereign capability to develop our own?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, two separate issues – related but separate issues. Cyber security is a standing item on our agenda. We received certain updates on that today which I won’t go into.

In relation to consumer-owned energy, yes, cyber security will be one of the elements that the road map will relate to.

On sovereign capability, we’re a government that wants to see more things made in Australia. We want to see more renewable energy made in Australia, and we want to see the things that make renewable made in Australia. Again, we have policies, including the National Reconstruction Fund there. It’s no secret, as the Prime Minister said recently in Newcastle, we have much, much more to say and do, and we’ll be doing that in due course.

Jacob.

JOURNALIST: Minister, I think yesterday we got an example with Eraring probably keeping the grid going with that heat wave in Sydney, sort of reminding everything about the role base load and firming plays. Have you had any discussions today about the capacity investment scheme and particularly carbon capture, how that might play into it? Are you reconsidering at all carbon capture in the context of your CIS? And I would have asked the minister from Victoria the same, but she’s left. But, Minister Sharpe, maybe –

CHRIS BOWEN: She’s a big fan. Carbon capture is not related to the Capacity Investment Scheme. The Capacity Investment Scheme is about renewable energy. Of course I updated my state and territory colleagues on the progress on that, and we’re making good progress and I’m looking forward to rolling out the first auction in coming months. And, indeed, the pilot, the two pilots, in New South Wales has been very, very successful and South Australian and Victorian auction is shaping up to be extremely successful.

In relation to yesterday, Minister Sharpe may care to add, but in relation to yesterday, yes, we have had a long, hot summer and the system has coped very, very well. And that’s a tribute to all the work that all governments and AEMO did over the course of last year to prepare for a long, hot summer.

You’ll indulge me for a second when I say that my shadow ministerial colleague was predicting rolling blackouts all summer as a result of not enough power. Now it’s up to him to reflect on his remarks, but they haven’t been borne out. We’ve been dealing with natural crises and impacts on transmission and distribution, and if a telegraph pole is knocked over, it doesn’t matter where the power is coming from, it’s not getting delivered to the house it's connected to while it’s knocked over. Same with transmission lines.

But we’ve dealt with those. But the renewable energy system working with firming has dealt with a lot of challenges, including the Loy Yang A power station tripping out as a result of transmission towers going over in very severe storms, including yesterday where, you know, there was pressure on the grid in New South Wales. AEMO working with the state government, working with us managed the situation and there was an LOR2 that was cancelled because the system responded well. And I’m sure that will continue to be the case. Penny, did you want to add anything? No? Okay, that’s fine.

JOURNALIST: Minister, just quickly on Meta, Facebook, so that company has withdrawn a deal to pay Australian media companies. Is your government going to enforce any parts of the Media Bargaining Code, any kind of fines, perhaps for them?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, let me first say the decision by Meta is a very disappointing abrogation of their responsibilities, their responsibilities to the Australian media landscape and what they had previously agreed to do. So we regard this as a dereliction of their moral responsibility.

In terms of the legal situation, Minister Jones is getting advice from the Treasury and the ACCC about the interaction of the Media Bargaining Code and Meta’s decision which, on behalf of the Commonwealth, I say is extremely disappointing.

JOURNALIST: Minister, obviously this new developer rating scheme will help point out developers that are working in good faith and want to have a good reputation. But the National Farmers Federation has been calling for a set of enforceable obligations to deal with those that may not have the best intentions in mind. Was anything discussed about something like a code?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, we discussed the Dyer review today, to be clear. But we also agreed that the Dyer review is a good document, but as I’ve said previously, I see it as an important starting point for better community engagement, better community involvement and better community benefit. Now, the rating system, I think the beauty of the rating system is that it enables all people – farmers, community members, governments – to assess whether they’re dealing with somebody in good faith, somebody who has a good reputation, has acted well, or somebody’s who’s a cowboy, and every sector has examples of both. I don’t care whether it's energy or any other part of the economy; there’s elements of both, and part of the developer rating system will be a good way of sorting through those issues.

Now, other suggestions, you know I’ve got a good relationship with the NFF. They were at the launch of the Dyer review. I know that they want more to be done and we want more to be done and we’ll work with people of good faith across the board. But we’re not signing up to particular recommendations outside the Dyer review.

JOURNALIST: Minister, can I just ask about the vehicle emissions issue. I think this week the government has been talking to car dealers and to the manufacturers. The message from them, other than the pure EV play-type companies is that they can’t do it under option B that you’re considering. Are you prepared to look at slowing the take-up down?

CHRIS BOWEN: Firstly, Jacob, a couple of points: one, that is not correct. The only pure EV companies are Tesla and BYD, but we’ve had Hyundai, Kia, Volvo –

JOURNALIST: Have you got –

CHRIS BOWEN: Sorry, apart from Hyundai we’ve got Kia, Volkswagen. You know, they are fairly large companies, with respect, Jacob, who’ve said they fully support not only our policy but our settings. So that’s very welcome. Others have different views. We – Minister King and I announced a preferred government position and we opened it for consultation, which is closing. So we announced that process. Of course we’ve received feedback from those companies that have strongly supported it, from the peak motoring groups like the NRMA, strongly supported it, and, of course, there are companies who inevitably say they think it’s difficult for them. We’ll take on board good faith suggestions and consider them.

But be under no illusions: this is a scheme which is about 20 years too late for Australia. The previous government had several attempts over a period of years to introduce it. Minister Fletcher, to his credit, tried hard to introduce it. He failed. He lost support within his party to do so. He approached the Labor Party for support. We provided it. We said we would support it from Opposition. This is a scheme which puts Australian motorists and consumers first – not car companies and no-one else; consumers and motorists. And hence we’ll deliver it. Again –

JOURNALIST: Isn’t the issue though around the pace, the speed at which –

CHRIS BOWEN: Well –

JOURNALIST: Most groups agree it needs to happen. It’s –

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, it’s true, Jacob if it happened 10 years ago then maybe the trajectory could have been leisurely. But what we’re dealing with is a situation where a decade of delay and denial has put Australian motorists lumped in with the motorists of Russia not getting those standards. So motorists in the United States get the benefit of the standards, motorists in Europe get the benefits of the standards, motorists in the UK get the benefits of the standards, motorists in Japan get the benefits of the standards, motorists in India get the benefits of the standards, motorists in China get the benefits of the standards and the motorists in that renewable energy powerhouse run by woke warriors, Saudi Arabia, get the benefits of the standards, but Australia miss out.

JOURNALIST: The US – I’ve lived there – have the biggest cars you’ve ever seen.

CHRIS BOWEN: Correct. Correct.

JOURNALIST: Is that really what we’re trying to get to?

CHRIS BOWEN: Correct, and they’re 20 per cent more efficient than Australian cars. US motorists spend 20 per cent less on fuel because they’ve had fuel efficiency standards since 1975 – almost as long as I’ve been alive – and they’ve been benefitting from that for that 50 years. And we’ve been missing out. It’s time for it to be changed, and we will change it.

JOURNALIST: Minister Bowen, it was roughly this time last year at one of these meetings that you all agreed to review the National Hydrogen Strategy.

CHRIS BOWEN: Yes.

JOURNALIST: Are you able to give an update on where that review is at?

CHRIS BOWEN: Yeah, we had an update today. We discussed it. We had a check-in on progress. We are pleased with the progress. We’ll be having more to say in coming months. It’s an important document. The last strategy is well out of date. We’ve agreed that we’re going to continue to work on it. As I said, good progress has been made and, of course, even more important than that, good progress has been made in reality with the Hydrogen Headstart policy, now shortlisted down to six, and the hydrogen hubs, the most recent of which I announced in Karratha the week before last.

JOURNALIST: Is there a view among the ministers on whether the prime green hydrogen opportunities to export the liquid or the fuel?

CHRIS BOWEN: There’s a view amongst ministers that it’s an enormous opportunity for Australia full stop. Thank you.

ENDS