Federal government to allocate $600m to help major polluters in regional communities transition faster
Major employers in the Central Qld region, such as Rio Tinto are set to benefit from a $600m funding announcement to help big polluters cut emissions sooner.
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Regional communities at the coalface of the energy transition will be supported by $600m in funding to help major employers invest in renewable technology and drive down emissions.
The Albanese Government announced $600m from the $1.9b Powering the Regions Fund would be set aside to help trade-exposed facilities fast forward their energy transition.
About 215 facilities across Australia, such as coal and gas stations, alumina smelters and manufacturing plants are currently subject to the “safeguard mechanism” which imposes carbon emission limits on the nation’s biggest polluters.
Introduced under the previous government, the mechanism requires facilities that produce more than 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually to keep their net emissions below a baseline.
During a press conference at Rio Tinto’s Yarwun alumina refinery, near Gladstone, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the proposed reforms to the Safeguard Mechanism were about making sure big polluters contributed their “fair share” towards cutting emissions.
“These proposed reforms have been carefully calibrated to deliver the policy certainty and support Australian industry needs through decarbonisation,” Mr Bowen said.
“Reforms to the Safeguard will help create an effective, equitable and efficient trajectory to net zero.
“We know that 70 per cent of facilities, representing over 80 per cent of the scheme emissions, already have corporate commitments to net zero by 2050, this reform helps deliver the framework to get there.”
Overall, the reforms will lower emissions baselines for safeguard facilities by 4.9 per cent each year to 2030.
The move is expected to deliver 205 million tonnes of abatement during that period.
Further consultation with employers and stakeholders is now underway on how the government will design and deliver the remainder of the $1.9b Powering the Regions Fund.
Gladstone Regional Council deputy mayor Kahn Goodluck said Gladstone was the industrial and manufacturing powerhouse of Australia and it was important to make sure there was a positive plan to ensure the longevity of major employers such as Rio Tinto long after 2050.
“Facilities like Yarwun, QAL, and the Boyne Smelter and all the other industries in our region can provide the jobs and opportunities to our communities,” Mr Goodluck said.
“We welcome this announcement particularly equipped with the $600m fund that industries in our region can access and help them to decarbonise their processes and help them transition.”
Mr Goodluck said the Minister was hosting a roundtable in Gladstone with local industry and he would ensure employers knew what was available to them.
Rio Tinto chief executive (Australia), Kellie Parker said it was encouraging to see the government supporting heavy industry.
“We will need to work through the details to see exactly what it means for all of our assets, but the Government’s climate ambitions align with our own commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 and our plans to decarbonise our Gladstone assets to meet our Group climate targets,” Ms Parker said.
“At Yarwun, we are looking at changing our alumina refining process to reduce emissions, by piloting the use of hydrogen instead of natural gas in the process, which is a significant amount of work … we really appreciate the support of government as we pursue the decarbonisation of our assets.”
The government will also undertake a review to consider the best approach to preventing international carbon leakage risks, while protecting our reputation as a reliable trading partner.
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