Fossil fuel investment
Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (14:20): My question is to the Premier. In May the Australia Institute released a report which shows the Victorian Labor government spent $70 million of taxpayer funds last year on fossil fuel subsidies across several portfolios. Burning fossil fuels is the main cause of the climate crisis, so why is Labor in Victoria continuing to subsidise and support fossil fuel projects?
Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:20): I thank the member for Melbourne for her question. I hope the member for Melbourne will appreciate that I may not accept her question as it has been presented; I will take the opportunity to go and seek some further advice. But I will say to the member for Melbourne that in terms of taking climate action, that is exactly what we are doing right now. Bringing back the SEC is not just about making sure we are putting power back in the hands of people, it is also about making sure that we are driving investment in renewable energy projects across the state, whether it is in solar or in wind onshore and offshore, and making sure that we connect these projects so that the power gets to the places it needs to go – to households, to businesses and to primary producers right across the state. That is why we are taking a coordinated approach in terms of taking real action on climate.
This is all set within a framework of having strong targets that are driving this whole-of-government agenda. I want to give credit to the Minister for Climate Action, who is driving strongly this agenda to drive more renewable energy, to drive down emissions – zero emissions by 2045. That is taking real climate action, and I hope the Greens can support action in this space, not frustrate it.
Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (14:22): Premier, under the last Premier, Daniel Andrews, Labor actively supported several new coal and gas projects, including gas drilling near the Twelve Apostles, a new coal-to-hydrogen plant in the Latrobe Valley, extending the life of our brown coal power stations and lifting the ban on conventional gas drilling across Victoria. There are now at least a dozen new gas drilling projects on the cards in Victoria, onshore and offshore. Will the new Premier change direction and rule out supporting any new fossil fuel projects under her leadership?
Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:23): I thank the member for Melbourne for her supplementary question. As I said about the member for Melbourne’s previous question, I will need to check the details she provided in that question, because as the member for Melbourne was speaking our hardworking minister for energy and climate action and resources was providing an alternative set of views, and I think the member for Melbourne will understand the facts. I think the member for Melbourne could appreciate that I will seek the advice and counsel of the Minister for Climate Action, who has been working hard for nearly nine years now to drive down our emissions and to drive up investment in renewable energy and to make sure that is also supporting a pipeline of jobs. When it comes to gas, I simply point to the announcement recently by the minister and the planning minister about new home connections needing to be all electric. That is just one of many examples, member for Melbourne, of the action we are taking.