Interview with Greg Jennett, ABC Afternoon Briefing

GREG JENNETT, HOST: Jenny McAllister, as always, welcome back to the program. I think by the by, you might be our first guest on the program to have joined us from Hanoi. So, breaking new ground with us there today. Now, you've given a speech in the south at Ho Chi Minh about the emphasized shared goals between Australia and Vietnam in striving for net zero by 2050. But I note that Vietnam is, if anything, going backwards. It's doubled coal imports this year to keep the lights on. Predictions are it might hit record carbon emissions for electricity in the hotter months later this year. Not all countries are going to meet their targets, are they? And would you accept that Vietnam is languishing?

SENATOR JENNY McALLISTER, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE & ENERGY: Well, this is a really important relationship with Vietnam. I think, some of your viewers will know that it's now been 50 years that we've enjoyed diplomatic relationships with Vietnam, and we've elevated just this year our relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. And it gives us the opportunity to work with Vietnam as a trusted partner on their decarbonisation journey.

We've got a view that it is in our interests and the Vietnamese people's interests for this transition to succeed. They've actually set themselves twin goals to hit net zero by 2050. But actually, to become a high-income country by 2045. These are really ambitious goals, but we know that actually, we all prosper when our region rises. And it's one of the reasons Australia is so keen to see Vietnam succeed.

We've also actually got lots of shared challenges. Our countries may be very different, but there are some things that are similar. They are here in Vietnam quite dependent on coal-fired power, but they are rapidly building out their renewable's infrastructure. Like us, they're interested in building up offshore wind – yes, yes.

JENNETT: Sorry to interrupt - there’s hydro of course, plays a very big role after coal, which is the dominant source of electrical generation. And then, as I understand it, a very sharp drop off indeed, as you move through to wind and to solar, they’re down in single digits, aren’t they?

McALLISTER: But to place that in perspective, Greg, they lead Southeast Asia in their deployment of solar and wind. So, they are making real strides in lifting the integration of renewables in their energy system in a way that's actually really impressive. And we have information that we can share with them to support them. We actually, a few decades ago, helped them when they first started setting up their North-South transmission lines. We provided technical support and assistance. One of the things we came to do under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership we've set up with them, is to work with them on green growth, including on how to strengthen and build out their electricity system.

JENNETT: How's that going to work in collaboration or even in competition with Australia’s own sovereign goals? The Prime Minister is pushing this Future Made in Australia agenda, complete with taxpayer-funded investments in cleaner energy manufacturing here. You've raised examples of battery tech companies there, Thorion and Magellan, exploring partnerships with Vietnamese manufacturing prowess. Is that the sort of thing that the Future Made in Australia actually wants to onshore return back to Australia?

McALLISTER: Well, this is a global task, and we need to strengthen global supply chains so that all the countries in our region can make this very big shift in their economy. And that presents a huge opportunity for Australian firms and also for, for Vietnamese firms. One of the things that the Prime Minister and Treasurer and others have made clear is that our approach to a future made in Australia is to look for opportunities where Australia has a genuine competitive advantage, or where we have a sovereign interest in building that capability.

That's not at all exclusive of partnering with other firms in our region to build this capability up. We know that global supply chains and integration into those supply chains can make a real difference to Australian firms. That's one of the things we're exploring here

To take a step back, 1 in 5 Australians have jobs that are dependent on trade, and we know that if Australian businesses are embedded in a country, in a region like Vietnam, it opens up all sorts of opportunities for other goods and services that trade in goods and services between our two countries. We've got a pretty solid foundation with Vietnam. I think it was, by more than $25 billion in 2-way trade in 2022. We want to see that grow, and that'll be good for Australian businesses and good for Australian workers.

JENNETT: Thank you so much for joining us and enjoy the rest of that tour.

McALLISTER: Thank you Greg.