October 2023 E-Newsletters

You would not be alone feeling overwhelmed and tired right now. There is a lot going on in the world and not in a good way. Shockwaves from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are being felt here. We are a diverse multicultural nation with kinship ties that stretch throughout the world and those ties are directly connected to our hearts which for many Australians are aching. I spoke about the terrorist attacks on Israel early last week in parliament,

emphasising our need to support each other as Australians. In this moment, we are drawing down on that sovereign wealth fund of social capital I discussed in my maiden speech:
 

“We have a lexicon for economic progress, ranging from GDP to unemployment figures, but we lack the language for social cohesion. And yet it is like money in the bank: social capital put away in good times to be drawn down in bad…Social capital is our true sovereign wealth fund that, if managed well, will pay a dividend to us, its shareholders, forever.”
 

And we have every reason to spruik our credentials. We are the world's largest supplier of lithium, the fourth largest of cobalt, and the third largest of rare earths. This coupled with us being a stable democracy with a skilled workforce and strong environmental, social and governance credentials makes us an attractive investment destination.

But this is not just about Governments signing agreements which is why the Prime Minister brought business and industry together at a roundtable in Washington earlier this week. Having industry at the table is critical because decarbonisation goes hand in hand with industrialising our country.

We had a national wake up call a few years ago when the pandemic hit but if that wasn't enough, the war in Ukraine triggered an energy shock that has underscored the urgent need shore up our supply chains, reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and bring back manufacturing. A future made in Australia is not a trite slogan, but essential to our net zero transition, our economic resilience and to our national security. We have backed in Australia with the following:

• Doubling the size of the Critical Minerals Facility from $2 billion to $4 billion which will help de-risk investments in our critical minerals sector for those companies who cannot attract full financing from the market. Providing Government support helps crowd in private investment.
• Microsoft will make a $5 billion investment in Australia expanding its local data centre footprint from 20 to 29 centres in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. Data centres are hungry entities- they need skilled workers and energy-lots of it. These centres will run on renewable energy, supported by a Microsoft Data Centre Academy in NSW to skill up “digital tradies”. An additional 300K Australians will be trained through its global skills program and women are on our radar. Australia has among the most gendered workforces in the world. As someone with a research background in AI, I know that women can have great futures in the digital economy. Agreements like this will expand cloud computing, AI and cyber security in Australia expanding opportunities for Australians to be future work ready.
• The US National Science Foundation (NSF) and Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), have committed $25.9 million for climate and clean energy research and AI research.
• Our $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund is key to reviving our industrial base as is our massive skills programs underpinned by a landmark 5-year $12.6 billion new skills agreement with the states to strengthen our vocational training and TAFE sector and the needs of our burgeoning clean energy, on-shore manufacturing, food security, construction, care and digital economies.

• The Albanese Government is tipping in $100 million from our $2 billion Hydrogen Headstart Program towards a green hydrogen hub near Whylla, South Australia and $69 million towards a similar hydrogen hub in Gladstone, Queensland. The Gladstone hub could produce close to 300,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year by 2031, equivalent to powering more than double Australia’s heavy vehicle fleet. Green hydrogen will be a lifeline for heavy industries like mining, smelting, refining and construction- we need to start now to make it a commercial reality.
• A solar farm in Queensland comprising around 215,000 solar panels will power around 40,000 homes, equivalent to taking 72,000 cars off the road each year.
• A 600MW solar farm in Central Queensland will provide enough power for 200,000 homes equivalent to taking around 310,000 cars off the road every year.
• The Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub in Plumpton Victoria, will have a 12.5MW solar farm and the largest battery in Asia at 2.4GWh providing power to 1 million homes.

Straight after the forum, Chris went to Hobart to open consultation on an offshore wind zone spanning over 10,000 square kilometres in the Bass Strait. Offshore wind will be critical to Tasmania achieving its ambitious target of 200% renewable energy that will help it support a local heavy industry economy. This is one of six off shore wind zones we have announced. A single spin of a turbine generates as much power as an average rooftop solar installation does in a day, and they spin roughly 15 times a minute. The scale is immense, the opportunities even greater.

The report also affirmed the importance of renewable energy in bringing down prices. The past year has seen a massive increase in rooftop solar which was 41% higher in September 2023 than September last year. What this means, is that we need to go harder. 

Rather than slamming the brakes on our green transition, as some would want us to do, we will be doubling down on giga scale renewable energy projects, on upgrading our energy grid, on the critical minerals and manufactured goods for our green transition, on up-skilling our people and on the international and corporate partnerships needed to get us there. 

Warmest wishes till next time,