Anthony Albanese in Qld to back state Labor’s green energy plan
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to declare his support for Queensland’s ambitious $62bn energy and jobs plan in a major speech cementing the theme of the federal government’s upcoming budget.
QLD Politics
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to declare his support for Queensland’s ambitious $62bn energy and jobs plan in a major speech cementing the theme of the federal government’s upcoming budget.
Mr Albanese, in his first major Queensland address in at least a year, will announce the federal government plans to enshrine a bold manufacturing revival into law through a “Future Made in Australia Act”.
It is the latest plank in a budget package focused on boosting Australia’s manufacturing capabilities to provide the components needed for the nation’s hastening transition to a renewable energy future.
Mr Albanese will signal the government’s intention to more aggressively intervene to diversify Australia’s economy rather than leaving it only to market forces.
This includes the government being prepared to use its size, strength and strategic capacity to absorb some of the risk of the renewable energy boom.
In a significant boost for Queensland’s ailing state Labor government, Mr Albanese will also resoundingly throw his support behind the $62bn energy and jobs plan.
This includes the controversial Pioneer-Burdekin pumped hydro scheme, the smaller $14bn Borumba Pumped Hydro project near Gympie and the $5bn transmission line known as CopperString set to connect Mt Isa to the electricity grid.
The cost of the Pioneer-Burdekin pumped hydro scheme is not yet known, with no guarantee the state government will make a financial decision on its centrepiece renewable energy project before the October election.
The federal government has not yet made dollar-figure commitments to those projects, but the state has been banking on a contribution since the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan was announced in 2022.
“Queensland’s role as a resource and energy and innovation state will continue – and it will evolve,” Mr Albanese said.
“Because Queensland resources and energy and technology will help make Australia a renewable energy superpower.
“Queensland will be at the forefront in helping the nations in our region grow, industrialise and decarbonise – and help the world achieve its net zero goals.”
A multibillion-dollar package designed to drive the domestic development of clean energy technology will be the central focus of the federal government’s upcoming May.
Mr Albanese has been building to the moment, announcing $1bn in subsidies, grants and other forms of support for domestic production of solar panels in late March.
“An inescapable lesson of the past half-century is that Australia cannot isolate ourselves from global economic change, even if we wanted to,” he said.
“We must recognise there is a new and widespread willingness to make economic interventions on the basis of national interest and national sovereignty.
“And – critically – none of this is merely being left to market forces or trusted to the invisible hand.”
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