Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivered the Federal Government’s budget in October, offering plenty of optimism for the clean energy industry, writes Gavin Dennett.
On 25 October, 2022, Treasurer Jim Chalmers (pictured above, right, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese) handed down Labor’s first budget since the party swept to power at Australia’s federal election in May.
With skyrocketing energy prices front and centre, Chalmers’s budget has taken steps to deliver on the election promise of household energy savings of $275 per year by 2025, but with prices set to further rise during the next 12 months, a long-term approach in the support of renewables has been taken, including $25 billion committed to be spent on clean energy projects in the next decade that will give more Australians access to cheaper green power.
Staunchly committed to a clean energy future, part of the Federal Government’s approach has been to accelerate the nation’s transition to renewables following a decade of the Coalition government treading water on the issue and failing to acknowledge the urgent need for action.
This includes more than $290 million to revitalise the Climate Change Authority (CCA) which was established by the Julia Gillard Government in 2012 but decimated by the Coalition in subsequent years.
The government is committing $47 million to the CCA – created to set independent climate targets – during the next four years, and $13 million per year after that.
Clean Energy Council chief executive Kane Thornton says the budget makes great strides in supporting the transition to renewable energy that will eventually lead to the easing of cost-of-living pressure for Australians.
“This is the medium-to-long-term Federal Government expenditure our industry has long called for,” he says.
“Funding [for projects] such as Rewiring the Nation, Marinus Link and Clean Energy Finance Corporation funding for the Victoria-NSW KerangLink interconnector enable more clean, low-cost renewable energy and storage to power Australian homes and businesses.
“This is what will ultimately ease cost-of-living pressures.
“We’re being warned there is more pain on the way in the short-term due to our reliance on an energy system built around the failing dirty technologies of the past – unreliable coal and expensive gas.
“But the Federal Budget gets Australia on the right track, making the most of the renewable energy boom and setting up our nation up for clean energy superpower status.”
Key climate and clean energy government departments will receive welcome staffing boosts, with the CCA increasing from 11 staff to 38; the Clean Energy Regulator increasing from 317 staff to 347; and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation increasing from 126 staff to 166.
“It’s a budget that prioritises funding in the renewable energy labour market that supports a growing and diverse regional workforce,” says Thornton.
“Clean, low-cost energy can provide enormous opportunities for workers, communities and our environment.
“After a decade in the energy wilderness, the budget accelerates the transition to clean, affordable and reliable renewable energy while investing heavily in the jobs and skills needed to realise that transition.”
Aaron Hilton, CEO and founder of energy startup PowerPlay, says the budget’s pragmatic approach to long-term renewable investment is encouraging.
“The budget announcements on renewable energy investment are welcome,” he says.
“They are targeted in areas that will accelerate energy transition and seem to represent the pragmatic approach the government is advocating for.
“The Federal Government’s investments to reduce reliance on fossil fuel will take time to bear fruit, but they certainly will reduce energy costs in time.”