It's time to Renew Australia
Australia’s economic future is clean and green, or it is no future at all.
We are currently heading towards a climate catastrophe. Our planet is warming, sea levels are rising, we are living through hotter summers and more extreme weather events.
It makes economic sense to act now. The coal industry is in structural decline. Coal exports are declining and the world is shifting towards clean energy. As one of the sunniest and windiest countries in the world, Australia can lead the transition to a clean energy powered future.
The Greens’ plan for a clean energy powered economy will secure all the benefits of lower prices, better technologies, more jobs and significant export opportunities for innovative technologies and services developed and produced in Australia.
Our plan to Renew Australia
- Ensure that energy generation is at least 90% renewable by 2030 and our energy efficiency is doubled.
- Establish a new $500 million government authority – RenewAustralia – tasked with planning and driving the transition to a new clean energy system to leverage $5 billion of construction in new energy generation over the next four years.
- Create a $250 million Clean Energy Transition Fund to assist coal workers and communities with the transition.
- Implement pollution intensity standards to enable the gradual, staged closure of coal fired power stations, starting with Australia’s dirtiest — Hazelwood.
Powering the new economy
Tackling global warming needs real leadership. In the face of the climate challenge, the rest of the world is moving rapidly to transform their economies and we cannot be left behind.
The Green’s plan for 90% renewable energy will meet Australia’s energy demand more cheaply. Electricity demand is predicted to increase, particularly as we electrify our transport system, while building new fossil fuel-based power stations is already more expensive than wind and will soon be more expensive than solar.
To secure all the benefits of lower prices, better technologies, more jobs, competitive advantages and significant export opportunities, building the clean economy needs to start right now.
Handing the power back to users.
Like the digital revolution that is transforming so many aspects of our lives, energy generation and its delivery is undergoing a transformation, through sophisticated technology that puts the power back in the hands of everyday Australians.
The Greens want to hand the power back to energy users. When all types of homes and businesses are able to generate and trade their own power, the democratisation of our energy system will be unstoppable, jobs will be created and energy bills will be slashed for households everywhere — from public housing tenants, to renters, to apartment-dwellers.
Transitioning away from coal
Many of the coal plants we rely on for our power are half a century old and well past their used by date. But under the current settings the oldest, dirtiest coal plants will be the last to close.
Under RenewAustralia, once a power station is above the set pollution target, the energy regulator will have the statutory power to order the generator to be decommissioned. A planned transition offers workers the security to plan their future rather than being thrown out by the company board when it has no choice but to close. This is crucial because the clean energy transformation must also be an equitable one.
Renew Australia will have access to a Clean Energy Transition Fund, to ensure no coal worker is left behind. Training and re-skilling programs, investment support for new businesses and enterprises, and funding to assist new industries to move to affected areas will be some of the options Renew Australia will be charged with implementing.