The Hon Melissa Price MP
I was honoured to deliver the below speech at the
Mid West and Gascoyne Major Projects Conference
in Geraldton, 18 October 2022
I have never been one for losing… and an election is no exception to that rule. So, after the Coalition’s election result on the 21st of May this year, I, like many of my colleagues, quickly began dissecting the information at hand to determine what went wrong.
As reported by the ABC, more people listed climate change as their most important issue this election compared to any other topic. This was the case for every single seat in the country, bar Longman and Flynn, where climate change finished a close second after cost of living.
This is not very surprising when we consider the teal wave that wiped out many safe Liberal seats across the country, like Curtin here in Western Australia. These campaigns were specifically run on integrity and climate change, and the electorates voted them in.
On the 8th of September the Albanese Government passed their Climate Change Bills in the Senate and enshrined in legislation Australia’s emissions reduction target of 43 per cent and net zero emissions by 2050.
And just like that, the saga known as the ‘climate wars’ was brought to a swift close.
My greatest disappointment as a member of the Liberal Party is that we have consistently failed to demonstrate to Australians that, not only did we effectively act on climate change, but our measures were also coveted globally as the gold standard.
In 9 years of Government, we were successful in reducing emissions in a manner that was safe and responsible.
Without raising electricity prices or taxes.
Without shutting down coal, gas production or exports.
Without job losses.
Our story of emissions reduction has been one of consistent achievements. Before the election, Australia was on track to reduce emissions by up to 35% by 2030. Well above our target of 26% to 28%.
We met and surpassed our 2020 Kyoto targets.
Under the Coalition, Australia’s emissions reductions outpaced those of the United States, New Zealand, Japan and every other major commodity exporting nation… in the world.
It was a great honour to have contributed to the Coalition’s successes, serving as a former Commonwealth Environment Minister.
In 2018, I proudly represented our nation in Katowice, in Poland, at the Climate Change Conference (COP24).
Far from being ridiculed or criticised for the Morrison Government’s climate inaction, Australia was praised for the actions it was taking to reduce emissions.
Actions like funding from the Emissions Reduction Fund, CEFC and ARENA and also the world leading accurate and transparent way in which our nation captured emissions’ data.
Whilst I was chairing the COP24 subcommittee, which included representatives from the USA, Canada and New Zealand, it was clear to me that Australia had a positive reputation for its professionalism and its climate actions.
At a time when many nations simply had emissions’ targets, but no plan to achieve them, Australia was hailed for its actions.
We set the global standard on the world stage for all to see. We should be proud of our record.
Unfortunately, we failed to communicate this record to the Australian people, a failure which cost us the opportunity to continue delivering and building upon our successes.
And that brings us to this moment in time.
Now that Labor have legislated Australia’s emissions reduction target of 43 per cent and net zero emissions by 2050, we must turn our attention towards how we as a nation are going to achieve these targets.
The next debate of our generation will be that of energy production and consumption and it could not have started at a more difficult time, with the war in Ukraine threatening the world’s clean energy transition.
The ‘climate wars’ are over, but has the ‘energy war’ just begun? What role will industries in the Mid-West play to achieve a safer climate for future generations?
It is easy enough to set targets and display a commitment towards net zero emissions, establishing and executing a plan that won’t adversely affect the lives of every day Australians is a much more difficult endeavour.
As at 2019, 84.3% of our global primary energy consumption came from fossil fuels, with wind and solar only contributing 3.3%. The unfortunate reality is that our reliance on fossil fuels, such as coal, still plays a significant part in the global energy mix. In fact, coal consumption rose in 2021 in countries such as America, China and Germany.
In 2021, Germany’s wind power feed-in in the first half of 2021 was lower than average, with electricity generation by onshore wind turbines falling by 21 percent and offshore turbines falling by 16 percent. Coupled with a rise in electricity consumption, coal-fired power generation in Germany was significantly increased.
Now that NATO countries and other nations are working to limit their reliance on Russian gas, countries like Germany are once again turning to coal to meet demand domestically. This is not an indication that developed countries are looking backwards, simply a reality check that renewables can fail to generate the necessary input required to sustain demand and that we are a lot more reliant on coal than we would like to admit.
We received a wake-up call of our own in Western Australia recently with news that the Collie Power Station has not extracted enough coal to keep WA’s biggest single coal-fired generator operational over the next three months. We are now facing the prospect of having to freight coal in from over east, even though millions of tonnes of coal still lie in the ground around Collie.
The McGowan Government’s decision to phase out coal from the energy system entirely by 2030 may adversely impact our energy security, especially if this transition has not been appropriately bolstered by other sources of energy.
Whilst renewables continue to grow as a key part of our energy mix and as technology changes to make them more effective, other clean alternatives are necessary if we intend to meet our climate targets.
Here in the Mid-West, much is being done by industry and government to explore cleaner alternatives for our current energy supply. More specifically, there are exciting discussions focusing on the implementation and export of renewable hydrogen.
Green hydrogen features as an important pillar of a future net zero economy with its potential to decarbonise heavy industry, long haul freight, shipping, and aviation. Hydrogen-based fuels has the means to transport energy from renewables over thousands of kilometers, particularly useful in a state as large as Western Australia.
Fortunately, the Mid-West Region has a large advantage when considering the potential for green hydrogen production.
Our coastal plains are one of the world’s best locations for wind and solar, the surrounding rural land is cost effective, the risk of a severe weather event is low in comparison to other parts of our country, and we have direct access to a highly skilled workforce.
I was proud to learn that Geraldton was chosen as the study location for GHD and BP’s ‘Renewable Hydrogen and Ammonia Feasibility Study.’ This jointly funded study received $1.7 million from the Coalition Government through the Australian Renewable Energy as part of its Advancing Renewables Program.
As the local Federal Member, I look forward to playing a part in ensuring Geraldton is known globally as the best place in the world to source green hydrogen.
While it is evident that green hydrogen will play an important part in decarbonising our energy sources, there are significant hurdles in the way that require collaboration across government, industry, and local communities to ensure it becomes a viable alternative.
Our commitment to supporting hydrogen as one of our future sources of clean energy was evident in our $42.5 million grant to Yara Pilbara and ENGIE to build one of the world’s first industrial-scale renewable hydrogen production operations.
Using a 10 MW electroylsyer, on-site photovoltaic panels and a battery storage system, the plant to operate without being connected to the main electrical grid and will produce up to 625 tonnes of renewable hydrogen per year.
In March this year the Coalition Government announced that we were investing $49 million in the Australian Vanadium Project, to process high grade vanadium from its Meekatharra mine in WA. Partnered with ATCO Australia, this highly sought-after critical mineral will then be transformed into energy-storing batteries in the clean hydrogen powered Tenindewa plant.
Behind China and Russia, Australia holds the third-largest amount of vanadium in the world. This critical mineral can be used in batteries that store grid-scale energy, can be attached to power plants or electrical grids and can be used with steel to produce lighter, stronger, and more resistant building materials. It just makes sense to produce it ourselves, in an environmentally friendly way, on home soil.
This is a great example of how the Coalition invested in supplying Australia and the world with a safe and environmentally responsible metal that can help us in our transition to renewable energy.
And the best part is that it is happening in our own back yards.
One conversation the Coalition will not shy away from in this next term of government is how nuclear can contribute to our net zero ambitions.
In Western Australia there is a ban on new uranium mines.
Initially, Western Australia had four proposed uranium mining leases granted for Wiluna, Kintyre, Yeelirrie and Mulga Rock.
I am proud to say that I was the Minister responsible for providing final federal approval for the last uranium project in WA, the Yeelirrie project.
Currently, only Vimy’s Mulga Rock project can proceed as the other three projects have failed to demonstrate substantial commencement of their plans on site.
If we are serious about responsibly lowering emissions, uranium must be a part of the conversation, especially considering Australia is home to one third of the world’s deposits of uranium.
The Coalition have called for an informed and honest debate on how nuclear technologies can be a part of the decarbonisation mix.
How can it help reduce emissions, lower power prices over time, shore-up renewables, and support our general energy security? Australians are hungry for affordable, reliable, and secure sources of power that emit zero emissions.
And while renewables play a huge part in painting this picture, it’s at times when the sun is not shining, and the wind is not blowing that nuclear can also play a part.
Key global players are all moving in the direction of building upon their current nuclear stock or investing in research to develop nuclear technology. France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Korea, the United States of America… the list goes on.
In fact, over 70 designs of small modular reactors are currently in development or construction in 18 countries.
These countries are proving that when government and key industry players work in tandem with one another, great progress can be made on the safe implementation and economically feasible introduction of nuclear energy.
No better example can be seen than that of the United Kingdom and the Rolls-Royce small modular reactors. Their SMR is a compact power station design, around 90 percent of which will be built or assembled in factory conditions, which can support both on-grid electricity and a range of off-grid clean energy solutions.
A single Rolls-Royce SMR power station could power approximately one million homes, only by occupying the footprint of two football pitches. It could also be used in the decarbonisation efforts of industrial processes, such as green hydrogen.
Supported by up to $210 million pounds by the British Government, Rolls-Royce, other key industry players and the British Government are working together to create clean and affordable energy for all. We need to ensure Australia is learning from these examples over seas and implementing similar collaboration with industry at home.
Although the Coalition has only been in opposition for a very short time, we are determined to lead the agenda on many issues.
We will not let the mistakes of the past define our contributions for the future. We lost the climate wars however a new discussion is beginning on how Australia will move forward with the rest of the world on energy production and consumption. This is the beginning of a new chapter, one that may be championed as the ‘energy wars.’
No matter what pundits in the media call, this time around the Coalition will be the key player in moving our communities, industry and all Australians towards decarbonisation and a net zero future.
Thank you.
