Energy
Climate change is real and poses a huge challenge for our environment and economic future. Australia must stick to the Paris agreement, which involves reducing greenhouse gases by 26-28% on 2005 levels by 2030.
This must involve a smart energy mix that provides affordable and reliable baseload power, and electricity grid stability. It also involves making sure we have enough gas for domestic consumption, instead of the current situation where Australian gas is being sold overseas at half the price it is here.
Examples of what needs to be done:
- Have an efficient and effective Emissions Intensity Scheme (EIS) based on world's best practice.
- Australia needs to quickly move toward a cleaner and more affordable energy future. This will involve reduced reliance on economically unsustainable technologies.
- Government policies need to facilitate innovative and job creating energy industry opportunities through research, adoption, education and manufacturing of new technologies.
- Australian energy resources should be available to Australians before being available for sale to the rest of the world. An allocation for domestic use prior to export would also help lower the cost of energy for consumers. And gas producers must comply with a strict 'use it or lose it' rule to their gas reserves, not keep the resources in the ground until a time that best suits them .
- Australian taxpayer funded research into renewable energy and climate change needs to be made more easily available to Australian industry to ensure our competitive advantage in these areas is encouraged.
- The importation of substandard and unsafe products related to renewable energy and or climate change must be stopped.