TED O’BRIEN – SHADOW MINISTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR FAIRFAX
TRANSCRIPT
SKY NEWS, NELSON BAY
24 October 2023
SPEAKERS
Ted O’Brien MP and Kieran Gilbert
Kieran Gilbert
Staying on the subject of energy. The opposition leader has been in Nelson Bay, north of Newcastle today, calling on the government to improve its consultation on a proposed offshore wind program in the Hunter. Here is Peter Dutton, a short time ago.
Peter Dutton
Chris Bowen and Meryl Swanson and Emma McBride and others just to have absolute disregard for the local community, I think is a national disgrace. And what Chris Bowan is proposing to do here is to destroy the environment to save the planet. It just doesn’t make any sense.
Kieran Gilbert
For more on this, I spoke earlier with the Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Ted O’Brien.
Kieran Gilbert
Thanks very much for your time. What’s your message and that of the opposition leader when it comes to this Hunter Coast offshore wind project? Are you flat against it, do you not want it to go ahead?
Ted O’Brien
Our message to the Albanese government is: One- that they should rescind the declaration of the Hunter offshore wind zone. Two- they should fix a broken community engagement process before; three- reopening consultation here within this region.
Kieran Gilbert
So, you’re not necessarily sort of blanket opposition to the idea?
Ted O’Brien
The key issue we’ve heard here on the ground, Kieran and again today, I’ve been here on multiple occasions, is the community has not been listened to. You know, this is a community that relies on industries like tourism and also commercial fishing. The tourism industry is worth $660 million a year and commercial fisheries around $350 million. This is their livelihoods. You know, when the government came out and tried to have public consultations about this offshore wind zone, and majority of the community didn’t even know there was a consultation on. I heard stories about senior citizens being denied the opportunity to make submissions because the government refused to take hand written ones. I heard stories about the union movement influencing the process, trying to encourage positive submissions. We’ve heard about families worried that their kids will not have a future here. We’ve spoken to tourism businesses that don’t know how they can survive. And that’s before you’ve hit the commercial fisheries. This community is enraged by this because it’s happened without their knowledge and those few here who did know about it, they were ignored by the Minister. And this is why I don’t think this declaration holds water. The Minister himself has actually conceded.
Ted O’Brien
Go ahead. Sorry, Kieran.
Kieran Gilbert
The Minister says that there are still three opportunities for the community to be consulted, including during the environmental approval phase, including during the licensing phase. Is it premature for you to say that there’s been no consultation? When he argues there are still three more opportunities, which will be upcoming for the community to give their feedback.
Ted O’Brien
Well, Kieran, when you’ve botched the first consultation, you don’t just plow ahead and move to the second. And that’s precisely what Labor are trying to do here. I mean, the minister himself conceded that his community engagement process was flawed. Now he did that when, I actually happened to be on the ground at Norah Head, not far from here. I’m talking about this Hunter offshore wind zone. The minister came out in July and basically called for a review of the community consultation process for these types of projects, knowing full well that there are flaws with it. But yet it was after even making that decision that he declared the zone. So, in other words, he declared this zone in full knowledge that the community consultation process upon which he rely was flawed. And what? He expects this regional community just to roll over.
Ted O’Brien
They’re not going to cop that. I mean, this community have a livelihood, they’re proud of it. And they do great work. And when you see their natural environment, you understand why they are so proud and so protective. They’re not against action on climate change. But what they are against is being steamrolled by a government that is treating them with reckless indifference. Now, I think what we have done in hearing this community on multiple occasions, is something that their local members aren’t doing. I mean, the Labor member for Patterson and Dobell, they’re missing in action and that is why we need to keep coming here; to give voice to this community, which is not being listened to. It’s not fair.
Kieran Gilbert
You told the parliament during the debate around offshore wind an amendment to the electricity legislation that you support the ongoing development of Australia’s offshore wind industry. Is it still the Coalition’s position that it backs the development of offshore wind?
Ted O’Brien
The Coalition has adopted an ‘All-of-the-Above’ approach, Kieran, to tackling the challenges of climate and energy and that means every technology should be on the table to be duly considered, especially clean energy technologies. The issue here in the Hunter is not opposition to a particular technology, but rather a grievance, a fair grievance, about being ignored by a government in the community consultation process. And that’s why we’re here and that’s why Peter Dutton has yet again come here today, together with me.
Kieran Gilbert
The Minister, just to go back to something he has said in relation and in response to the criticism out of the community and from the opposition. He said that the government will only be licensing projects that work well with existing industry and the environment and deliver meaningful, long lasting, community benefits. That sounds definitive in terms of saying to the local tourism industry, fisheries and so on. That they are not going to do anything that will run counter or be averse to those industries. Isn’t that, isn’t that his message?
Ted O’Brien
That is the Minister’s message here and really what the Minister is saying is, trust me, trust me. This is the same Minister that looked Australians in the eye and promised them a $275 reduction in household power bills. And he broke that promise. This is the same Minister that has been treating this local community with reckless indifference, ignoring them, knowing there’s a problem with his consultation process, but saying, ‘Oh, well, who cares? We’re moving ahead.’ Now he’s coming out saying, ‘just trust me.’ Well, I can’t speak on behalf of this local community, but I suspect from those with whom I’ve spoken, if trust is running very low, it is in deficit for this Albanese government. They’ve made promises that fail to deliver and if all they have to offer is more never-ending promises. Well time will catch up with them. This local community has every right to be calling out what has been a flawed process and very poor mistreatment from the Albanese government.
Kieran Gilbert
From the discussion of offshore wind to the debate about nuclear energy, you know, the Minister has been very critical of you and the Opposition for raising this as a prospect. When will you seek to provide some more detail or a plan for nuclear ahead of the next election?
Ted O’Brien
Kieran, you’re right. The Albanese government is almost standing there on its own, in the world, complaining about the possibility of next-generation, zero-emissions nuclear energy forming part of Australia’s future energy mix. You know there are 32 countries today that have nuclear energy and they are wanting more. There are nearly 50 other countries in the world looking at introducing zero-emissions nuclear energy for the very first time. But this Labor government refuses to even engage in a national conversation about the possibility. Meanwhile, what’s happening with emissions in Australia? Now, for the first time in years, they’re going up, not down. What’s happening to power prices in Australia? They’re going up, they’re not going down. What’s happening within the Albanese objective of 82% renewables by 2030? They’re running at half the pace that they had planned. Investment in renewables are down by 40% since Labor have come to office, their entire policy is in disarray. While the rest of the world is cleaning up their energy grid, getting emissions down, getting prices down and providing reliability in their grid with next-generation, nuclear energy. This Prime Minister, this Labor Government has its head squarely in the sand, refusing to pluck it out and look at what works around the world. And they do so to the detriment of everyday Australians that are having to pay now some of the highest power bills in the world.
Kieran Gilbert
When, just to get clarity, though, when will you seek to have your plan? You’ll need to take some details to the next election. When do you want to have it out there?
Ted O’Brien
We’ll certainly be releasing our own plans well ahead of the next election. For now, we have a government in town as the Albanese government. And yes, nearly every single measure in the climate and energy debate is failing miserably. We are encouraging them to drop their ideological bias against certain technologies. This is why an ‘All-of-the-Above’ approach is necessary, Kieran, and as a Coalition, we are determined to put economics and engineering ahead of the ideological idiocy of the Labor Party. Only with economics and engineering, can we make sure that household power bills don’t keep going up and that we restore reliability to the grid while cleaning it up. There are other countries around the world that are doing that with zero-emissions nuclear energy. If the Labor government continues to refuse to even contemplate it, we will just continue to have that conversation with the Australian people as we formulate the policy that will be taken to the next election.
Kieran Gilbert Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Ted O’Brien, joining me from Nelson Bay today. Appreciate it.
