ELECTRICITY INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT BILL 2020

Ms JODIE HARRISON(Charlestown) (18:39:25): Itoo wish to contribution to debate onthe ElectricityInfrastructure Investment Bill2020.I dosobecauseof the necessity, which we haveknownaboutfor some time,to chart a pathaway from total reliance on fossil fuels and towards renewables as asignificant source of energy production.Afew nights ago on the ABC,former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull correctly referred to climate change as a matter of physics and economics. He said that refusing to acceptclimate change is akin to refusing to accept gravity.We need to make changes to the way we generate, storeand distribute power in this State.We knowthat this will pose substantial challengesand thedangers inherent in any planthatexcludes many in our communities.

I join with my colleagues in offering conditional support for theintention of this bill,whichis to make renewables a key aspect of electricity generation, storage,firming and transmission.Forthe Government to acknowledge that it has to act to secure our energy future isnoteworthy. ButI have serious concerns about the legislation in its current form,as was outlined bythe Deputy Leader of the Opposition, the member for Swansea,and themember for Wollongong.The Charlestown electorate is in the Hunter. I notethat therenewableenergyzones outlined by the planthe New England Energy Zone, the Central West Energy Zone and the South West Energy Zoneare to be based around Armidale, Dubbo and Hay respectively.The planexcludes the Hunter, a region with a long history of manufacturing and energy production anda regionwhere a substantial number of jobs will be impacted bya shift to renewables.

The Holy Grail of moving from fossil fuels to renewables has always been "jobs for the future." We need to ensure living standards and economic opportunities for workers in affected industries are continued. This is difficult to do. Few overseas jurisdictions have managed to successfully thread that needle. I am concerned that the current legislation, whilst making positive steps in terms of developing renewable energy infrastructure, will leave impacted workers behind.The lack of aplan for jobs for the future when stepping down an industry can be catastrophic for families and communities. We need only look at former mining communities in Wales, the north of England and Scotland to see how devastating the lack of a plan canbe.Thedecisions taken by the United KingdomGovernment in the 1980s, closing coalmines without adequate support for impacted workers and communities, can now be seen to have entrenched multi-generational unemployment and poverty in these areas.We must avoid outcomes likethose experienced in the United Kingdom atall costs.

I do not want to see a repeat of Thatcher's Britain in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the surrounding region. I do not want to see workers in the Charlestownelectorateandthe broader HunterRegion shutout of the jobs of the future.But thereis more to it than that.With the CSIRO, the University of Newcastle and a strong crop of local innovators and entrepreneursin the area, the Hunter Region is already primed to be atthe leading edge ofthis change. OurState cannot afford not to harness that expertise and potential.Peter Jordan,President oftheConstruction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union, expressed similar concerns to theNewcastle Herald, saying that there was nothingin the legislationabout the future of power workers and their communities.

In an editorial on the topic, theNewcastleHeraldpointed out the strangeness of a CoalitionGovernment, which supposedly lives by a free market mantra, failing to let the businesses involved decide where the infrastructure goes.Instead,this Government seems willing to be picking economic winners and losers based along political lines, trying to fight off challenges in the bush from ruralIndependents and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party.Inits current form,I do not thinkthe legislationcan be seen to be anything but.TheHunter deserves better than that. The workers and communitiesthathave been the powerhouse of this State's economy since its founding deserve better than that.

Withthe Premier's comments earlier this yearwhichtotally dismissed theHunter's manufacturing capabilities, I am left to assume that perhaps the Government doesnot know about what the Hunter can achieve in this area. I call on the Governmentto include the Hunterregionand Hunter communities in this plan, to recognise what we have achieved in the past and what we can achieve in the future. I note the very high potential for significant positive employment impactif this plan is implemented inthe right way. MrJordan told theNewcastle Herald, "The Government claims this roadmap will create 9000 jobs but most are only in construction and only 2,800 would be ongoing."This is a significant concern. If this Government cannot build the jobs of the future, if it cannot build on the economies of towns which may well be devastated by a change, what hope can the people of thisState have in this Government? What chance is there of buy-in fromthe affected communities?We need to be smart about this.

Ihope that the Governmentacceptsthe amendments being proposed by the Opposition.The Opposition's"made in New South Wales"bill and the underlyingpolicybehinditis a clear pathway to addressthese concerns. Putting in place procurement requirementsthatdemand the purchasing of local materials, the hiring of local labour and the utilisation of local expertise will build local economies all over the State.I agree with my colleaguethe shadow Minister for Innovation, Science and Tertiary Education andshadowMinister for the Hunter, thememberfor Cessnock, whoearlier this weektold theNewcastle Herald:

It's imperative the Government maximise the use of locallymade equipment in this process, rather than their usual relianceon offshore products that cost Australian jobs, often fail and don't save money.

This is a chance for this Government's demonstrated ideological inconsistency, as the Herald's editorial picked up on, to do some good. Iknow theGovernment is generally opposed to this sort ofeconomic stimulus, to building jobs and economies in that manner,butthe extraordinary challenge posed by climate change andthe need to look at the future of energy production justifies taking unorthodox steps.The Minister has talkedwell on thisissueso far butthere seems to be little detailabout itin the legislationand no guarantees. The Government knows this sort of policy is popular anditwantsto play into thatpopularitybut without guarantees, without legislation to back it up, all that talk will come to nothing.Procurement requirementsthatemphasise the use of local materials, local labour and local know-how need to be enshrined in legislation.

Anotherserious issuethatneeds to be addressedishowlong the Government has been dragging its feet on thismatter.Mount Piper Power Station has the longest lifeexpectancy of any of our power stationsand it is due to go off-line in 2042. That leaves us less than22years to fundamentally shift the nature of energy generation, storage andtransmission in this State.It took23years from the 1949 start of construction on theSnowy Mountains scheme until its 1972 opening.Becauseof this Government's inaction, New South Wales will beracing against the clock to ensure our energy future. We donot have any more time to waste. We need to get this rightnow.

If it is done right, thelegislation has the potential to build the industriesofthe future in our State. If it is done right, thelegislation has the potential todeliver jobs, and lots ofthem,and tosecureour energy grid forthe next century.We need to ensure that this legislation lives up to that potential.I call on the Government to ensure that that happens by including the Hunter as arenewableenergyzone and enshrining job-building procurement requirements in legislation. Letus end destructive and pointless fightsover energy and climate policy;letus do it fairly, justly and responsibly.I join with my colleagues inthe conditional support of this legislation. I certainly hopethat theGovernmentaccepts theamendments being proposed by the Opposition so that we can get this legislationright.We are running out of time.