Dissenting report—Greens Senators'

Background

1.1It is beyond doubt that there is an immediate and urgent need for the introduction of a National Energy Transition Authority in order to justly transition the workforce and help mitigate the climate crisis.Every second this is delayed risks further harm to workers and their communities.

1.2The IPCC report[1] released on 21st of March highlights the critical urgency with which the Australian Government must take meaningful action in order to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees.

1.3There is a vanishing pathway through which the catastrophic effects of global warming can be avoided. Critical to meeting this goal is the immediate decarbonisation of Australia’s economy alongside the closure of existing and forthcoming fossil fuels projects.

1.4Coal and gas are the primary causes of the climate crisis. To meet net zero climate targets there can be no new coal and gas projects. This is the view of the conservative International Energy Agency[2], the United Nations Secretary-General[3] and the world’s scientists.[4]

1.5The opening of 116 new coal and gas projects by the Government will exacerbate the climate crisis. This will undermine the small window of time in which we have to ensure a just transition for workers and communities out of the fossil fuel industry and into new renewable industries.

1.6The establishment of the National Energy Transition Authority would ensure that, through an independent statutory authority, there is a centralised coordination point overseeing this decarbonisation process and ensuring that workers and communities are not blindsided by forthcoming closures.

1.7Without a central coordination body with statutory independence, it is likely that corporations will step into the role and forcibly make closure decisions. This will—and has previously—caused immense harm to the workers affected.

Support for a National Energy Transition Authority

1.8The establishment of a National Energy Transition Authority has long been called for by unions, community groups and business groups. In particular the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) have long advocated for the establishment of an independent statutory National Energy Transition Authority.[5]

1.9In addition to the extensive work by the ACTU on a National Energy Transition Authority, in August of 2022 the ACTU and the Business Council of Australia (BCA) announced their joint support for establishing an authority.

…on the need for industry policy that drives innovation and investment, and for decarbonisation to be carefully managed for workers, communities and businesses through a National Energy Transition Authority.[6]

1.10Community groups of the regions that are going to be the most affected by closures in the fossil fuel industry expressed a heightened sense of urgency in implementing a National Energy Transition Authority, with emphasis on the ongoing failure to implement.

The Great Latrobe Park group applauds the initiative to establish a National Energy Transition Authority. The GLP group has been concerned for a long time by an apparent lack of national interest and care for the huge issues being confronted by many transition affected regions. Consequently, the GLP considers that this important Bill initiative is overdue.[7]

Members of Voices of the Valley have been in contact with community organisations in other, interstate, coal communities facing the decline of their industries and have consulted with them on the challenges faced by all of these communities. A common feature is failure by authorities to recognise the inevitable decline of fossil fuel based industries and the consequent lack of planning for transition to renewables and needs of communities living through the transition.[8]

WBBEC considers the proposed National Energy Transition Authority (the “Authority”) a necessary solution to address the lacuna in energy transition planning that is the future for workers, businesses and communities dependent on industries that will necessarily cease operation as the energy transition progresses.[9]

1.11Against this backdrop, it is unsurprising that most submissions were supportive of action on the establishment of a National Energy Transition Authority.[10]

It’s time to move past the petty politics that has defined the last decade of climate and energy policy and fix our collective gaze firmly on the road ahead as we navigate the path to net zero emissions. We have everything we need to manage this change well. The only thing missing is clear and decisive leadership at a national level.[11]

EDO agrees that Australia is in a state of energy transition and that failure to plan and coordinate this transition will continue to create significant detrimental impacts on those communities which rely on fossil fuel generation, transmission and distribution for employment.[12]

The Next Economy calls on the Australian Government to pass this legislation to create a National Transition Authority and to prioritise in the Bill a regional economic development approach to support communities as fossil fuels are phased out, renewable energy generation expands, and all sectors of the economy decarbonise.[13]

1.12Threaded throughout the inquiry process has been the strand of urgency in which a federal transition must be undertaken. It is against this backdrop in which the Greens consider the establishment of a National Energy Transition Authority to be critical.

Recommendation 1

1.13Funding be provided for the establishment of a National Energy Transition Authority in the forthcoming federal budget in May 2023.

1.14Without immediate appropriate funding, it is unlikely that meaningful mitigation pathways will be undertaken this term.Every further delay undermines the capacity to ensure a just transition for workers and their communities.

Recommendation 2

1.15That the bill pass.

Senator Penny Allman-Payne

Substitute Member

Australian Greens Senator for Queensland

Footnotes

[1] The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023, (accessed 21 March 2023).

[2] International Energy Agency, Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector, (accessed 22 March 2023).

[3] Secretary-General of the United Nations,Secretary-General's briefing to the General Assembly on Priorities for 2023, (accessed 22 March 2023).

[4] Australia Institute, An Open Letter: No New Coal Mines, (accessed 22 March 2023).

[5] Australian Council of Trade Unions, Secure Jobs for a Safer Climate, (accessed 22 March 2023).

[6] Business Council of Australia, Media Release, (accessed 22 March 2023).

[7] Great Latrobe Park Inc, Submission 2, [p. 6].

[8]Voices of the Valley, Submission 1, [p. 1].

[9] Wide Bay Burnett Environment Council, Submission 7, [p. 1].

[10] Environmental Defenders Office, Submission 8; Australian Council of Social Services, Submission 34; Smart Energy Council, Submission 26; Tomorrow Movement, Submission 12.

[11] The Next Economy, Submission 24—Attachment 3, [p. 49].

[12] Environmental Defenders Office, Submission 8, [p. 3].

[13] The Next Economy, Submission 24, [p. 1].