The federal opposition Labor Party leader, Anthony Albanese, has said the resources sector has been the backbone of the Australian economy for decades, but the nation’s “long-term future lies in renewable energy sources”.
Stepping around tensions within his own party Mr Albanese used a speech today about regional development to note that resources exports will “continue to meet the demands of the rapidly growing nations of our region” even as the world transitions to a lower-carbon future.
The opposition leader said the task of the coming decades was to “position our nation to be a major player in the clean energy industries that continue to grow in importance over time”.
The Labor leader said if the policy settings were right “we can transform our nation into a renewable energy superpower”.
He said resources of lithium and other rare earths offer huge potential in a world that will become increasingly focused on the need for batteries to store energy.
Mr Albanese also identified opportunities for regional development in bio-energy, including bio-mass generation and waste-to-energy.
In a speech delivered in the New South Wales coastal town of Coffs Harbour, Mr Albanese cited a report this week from the NSW state chief scientist and engineer that envisages 17,000 jobs and $26 billion would be added to annual growth from a domestic hydrogen industry.
The Labor leader noted that report was endorsed by the state’s environment minister, Matt Kean, but “the Morrison government appears to be blind to such opportunities”.
While the state’s Liberal premier, Gladys Berejiklian, had said recently it would not take much to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and that it would be “the stuff of dreams” for an Australian Liberal-National government to legislate that target, the federal government has resisted calls to adopt the mid-century target.
Mr Albanese’s speech laid out his thoughts on development opportunities for regional Australia.
He insisted the transition to renewable energy will create jobs in the regions.
He argued the National Party’s resistance to the energy transition was leaving it out of step with the communities it represent.
“The Nationals, who say they represent farmers, are now at odds with the National Farmers’ Federation, which recently embraced the target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050,” the Labor leader said.
He said regional Australia and the investment sector were “moving beyond this do-nothing government”.
Mr Albanese said only Labor could tackle energy policy “in a way that recognises the value of the current resources market while seeking out the massive opportunities in renewables”.
“The right plans will create hundreds of thousands of jobs in new industries, including in regional Australia whilst also reducing power prices”.
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