Opinion: Labor’s renewable energy target will add billions to power bills
ENERGY Minister Mark Bailey was so busy becoming a fully-fledged green activist this week that his missed the biggest energy triumph in Australian history.
Opinion
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DID anyone else notice that Energy Minister Mark Bailey became a fully-fledged green activist this week?
It happened when he turned his back on the Queensland resources industry that has powered the state’s prosperity for more than a century.
OPINION: National renewable energy plan up in the air
Bailey’s “credible pathways” renewable energy spiel may have sounded virtuous but it left little doubt that the ALP was willing to expose Queenslanders to blackouts and send power bills soaring to appease the obnoxious Greens.
Despite commendable advances in solar and wind-generated electricity, renewables just don’t cut it and coal and gas-fired power will be around for decades.
Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls was especially blunt:
“The Renewable Energy Taskforce report seeks to justify Labor’s ideological obsession with green energy rather than tell the truth that it will add billions of dollars to Queenslanders’ power bills,” he said.
“This flawed report seeks to downplay the true cost to Queenslanders of an over-the-top renewable energy target that will put Queensland’s energy security at risk and hike up household power costs.
“This report estimates taxpayers will have to pay $900 million in subsidies to bring in green energy, but the Queensland Productivity Commission says the real cost will be a massive $10.8 billion.”
So consumers will cop both ways. Taxpayers are forced to subsidise risky renewable energy projects with generous handouts from state and federal governments. And then they are expected to pay more for the energy when and if it arrives.
Along the way the rush to renewables will destroy the cheap power advantage provided by Queensland’s coal-fired power stations.
And while Bailey was busy spruiking the green gospel, he completely missed the biggest energy triumph in Australian history. It was happening right under his nose.
Origin Energy shipped the first cargo from its second production train from its $24.7 billion Australia Pacific LNG plant in Gladstone – the most expensive fully operational resource project in Australia to date.
It was a major milestone because Origin became the last of the three gas majors – QGC, Origin and Santos – to complete a second production train.
Bailey and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk should have been in Gladstone cheering because the floundering Queensland economy has been boosted by a surge in liquefied natural gas (LNG) production.
There should have been brass bands and balloons. But Bailey missed the train.
By 2018-19 LNG will become our second largest export, worth up to $17 billion.
In his press handout Bailey devoted a derisory sentence to gas and coal. And it rates just a few sentences in the lengthy draft report.
This is a pity because gas produces half the carbon dioxide and one tenth of the air pollutants that coal does when used to produce electricity.
Gas is the most logical back-up for power generation during the transition to renewables.
Origin boss Grant King made this point in his speech:
“As a cleaner form of energy, natural gas stands to play a pivotal role in helping Australia, and the world, reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change.
“Origin’s strategy of investing in gas and renewables means the company is well placed to lead the transition to less carbon-intensive energy.”
WorleyParsons, which provides engineering services to the resources sector, reckons each tonne of carbon emissions from LNG production in Australia reduces carbon emissions in China by 4.3 tonnes when this gas is used in place of conventional coal-fired electricity generation.
You probably don’t know it but QGC and Origin both operate gas-fired power stations in Queensland.
Origin’s Darling Downs Power Station is one of the cleanest baseload power generators in Australia in terms of carbon emissions.
And the air-cooled power station uses only 3 per cent of the water required in conventional coal-fired power stations.
And it is building Australia’s largest solar farm next door.
Gas is a flexible energy source and can be brought into generation at times of peak demand when renewables fail.
By year’s end Origin will have drilled 1400 wells in Queensland. It plans to drill another 300 to 350 wells a year for decades to come.
QGC has 2500 wells and it plans to drill another 500 wells at its new Charlie field and processing plant north of Wandoan on the Western Downs.
Santos has drilled 600 and has approvals for another 8000.
Gas has brought prosperity to regional Queensland and will be an increasingly important part of the energy mix and the Premier and her Energy Minister should say so.
Call to end FIFO
THE Mayor of the Western Downs has urged Queensland’s coal-seam gas giants to phase out fly-in fly-out workers.
Cr Paul McVeigh said FIFO workers were necessary during the hectic construction phase of the industry. That had largely passed.
“If you want to become part of the community you have to live in it,” said Cr McVeigh, a cotton farmer before he won office.
The Mayor said he had spoken to some coal-seam gas executives and planned to speak to more.
He said towns like Dalby had excellent schools and medical services and a wonderful, relaxed lifestyle.
And there was affordable housing.
Cr McVeigh admitted he was worried about the future of small towns as the agricultural workforce shrank.
“You won’t stop FIFO 100 per cent, but you can scale it down,” he said.
“Ideally, we would like to see 60 per cent of the workforce living locally.”
An estimated two-thirds of people who work on the Surat Basin gas fields are FIFO workers who typically work two weeks on, two weeks off.
They stay in camps near Dalby, Chinchilla, Miles, and Wandoan and as far west as Roma.
Gas extractors Santos, Origin and the Queensland Gas Company point out that many staff must live close to processing plants that operate around the clock, seven days a week.
“We give them a choice, but we can’t dictate where they will live,” said one source.
Origin said it would work cooperatively with the council.
It already provided financial incentive for employees to live in the communities in which they worked.
“Almost a third of our operational employees currently live locally across the Surat region,” a spokeswoman said.
“We have recently met with the Mayor and council to discuss what we will each do, and how we can work together, to further improve regional economic outcomes.
A spokesman for Queensland Gas Company said one-third of its 550 workforce lived locally.
“QGC has invested heavily in employing locals, giving young people and families a reason to stay in their home towns,” communications manager Paul Larter said.
“We also need flexibility so we can attract skilled workers in the highly specialised gas industry and, given the vast distances, to enable us to operate.”
Cattle farmer didn’t want cash cow
THE Queensland Gas Company regularly deposits large sums of money in Cecilia Donohoe’s bank account.
And she is heartily sick of it.
Donohoe, 72, and her brother Thomas, 64, run adjoining cattle properties at Woleebee Creek near Wandoan on the Western Downs. And depending on your point of view they have had the good fortune or the misfortune of sitting above an ocean of natural gas.
Donohoe says her life has been turned upside down since the first well was drilled in 2001. After the wells her land was invaded again. A massive trench was cut for the pipeline that carries all QGC Surat Basin gas to Gladstone.
And while the trenches were being dug Donohoe got a knock on the door from Powerlink, the State Government entity that owns and operates Queensland’s high voltage electricity transmission network.
She was forced to hand over a strip of land for a row of 45m tall transmission towers that run for 14km.
And the hunt for energy hasn’t stopped yet.
“QGC is still exploring and we could have up to 30 wells,” said Donohoe, an All Hallows old girl who returned to the family farm after a lengthy career with the Department of Foreign Affairs in Asia.
“In all honesty I wish QGC had bypassed our place.
“From the very beginning it was an invasion of privacy with endless meetings and negotiations. There have been comings and goings for years.”
Building the pipeline was especially irksome. Some of her neighbour’s cattle fell into the trench.
“They said it would take 12 weeks but it took two years,” she said. “It was very disruptive and there were a lot of hassles and legal battles.”
Donohoe’s chance of a quieter life was dashed, although she concedes the cash flow has helped her restock her cattle property after 15 years of on-again off-again drought.
“We really didn’t need QGC to be our financial saviour. We survived without them for 60 years, thank you very much.”
And her relationship with the gas giant is improving. She says they have learned to “peacefully coexist”.
She even concedes she is thankful for QGC’s social investment, its contribution to road upgrades and the expanded 3G mobile phone network.
“We have had our hiccups but we have a good relationship now,” she said.
Her compensation payments are confidential.
Her brother’s property has Origin wells.
Origin, too, has helped fund road repairs, upgraded airports and even upgraded a local sewerage treatment plant.
And there are regular grants to schools and sports clubs, not to mention jobs.
Both companies will be extracting gas for at least 25 years.
Maybe then Donohoe can get some peace.
P.S…
Cover-ups?
I FEAR complaints of wrongdoing against doctors go round in circles until the aggrieved patient simply gives up. Paradoxically, the more tribunals we set up, the less transparency there seems to be. Details that should be presented in annual reports to parliament are not.
Cases are passed like hot potatoes to Ethical Standards Units, the Ombudsman or the Crime and Corruption Commission. There are a secretive 14 national boards to regulate health professionals. In its annual report Queensland Health reveals its Ethical Standards “managed” 53 complaints of “corrupt conduct”. There were 119 other “matters” investigated. Nine complaints referred to the CCC. No details were provided. The annual report of the Health Ombudsman was equally obfuscational. It offered some mealy-mouthed “case studies” with names omitted, I suggest, to shield doctors and hospitals from embarrassment.
Mindstar help
FORMER Queensland health nurse Aaron Williams tells me suicide is at a 10-year high in this country. And three-quarters of people with mental problems go untreated. Many of them live in the bush.
“They are not going to drive six hours to see a psychologist,” said Aaron, 43. He and his wife Khayt (pictured above) from the Sunshine Coast left their jobs to launch Mindstar (mindstar.com.au), an online counselling service. “People are more comfortable talking to someone from the comfort of their own home,” he said. Aaron understands the problem first-hand. He said he fell into a deep depression in the UK in 2004 after the death of a friend. “I was suicidal,” he told me. “It took me six months to get back on my feet.” Aaron and Khayt have launched a national Change.org petition calling on the Australian Government to provide Medicare rebates for access to accredited online mental health services.
Jackie’s conflict
JACKIE Trad is meeting her constituents for coffee at West End Park Cafe at 9.30am today. Facebook originally posted an invitation saying the talkfest was hosted by the West End Community Association (WECA), the carrot-munching greenie outfit opposed to the $800 million West Village project.
“After some Twitter conversation that Facebook page was changed to, ‘Coffee with Jackie Trad MP not officially hosted by WECA’,” Shadow Attorney-General Ian Walker told Parliament. He accused the Deputy Premier of a conflict of interest and called for her to step aside from the decision-making process.
“She is having coffee with WECA, which was one of the parties to the court case,” he said. He added: “The Deputy Premier is calling the shots on this development and on this call-in, and the big question is whether in doing so she is acting for all Queenslanders or in the interests of her electorate.
“The Government has completely failed the integrity test.” Trad labelled the conflict of interest suggestion “spurious”.
More fat cats
MY paragraph last week about the extravagant salaries of the public service fat cats stirred a lot of comment.
Yes, the details are contained in the fine print of the annual reports tabled in Parliament. Here are some more: Director-General of Health Michael Walsh, $625,000; D-G of Justice and Attorney-General David Mackie, $440,000; Public Service Commissioner Robert Setter, $572,000; Queensland Art Gallery director Chris Saines, $349,000; CCC chairman Alan MacSporran, $460,000; CCC chief executive Forbes Smith, $350,000; and Crown solicitor Greg Cooper, $298,000. Government House Official Secretary Air Commodore Mark Gower received a tidy $245,000.
Irritant of the week
TONY Abbott. The former prime minister is doing very little except help Labor undermine Malcolm Turnbull. The time has come for Abbott to depart the political stage.
He said what?
“WHEN they played the national anthem at my first Test, I looked into the stands and I saw my old man wiping his eyes.” League legend Wally Lewis thanks his parents after being inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
Twitter: @DesHoughton
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