The response to a report on Monday the Abbott Government was considering abolishing Australia’s Renewable Energy Target altogether was swift and plentiful.
There’s still some confusion about the Government’s (official) stance on the RET since the report sent shockwaves throughout the industry and its massive base of supporters. We’re informed the Government now has the RET review report but is not making it public at this point.
After the initial uproar, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann stated the government’s position was to “keep the renewable energy target in place”; leading some to believe the axing rumour was a controlled leak meant to soften the blow of the RET perhaps instead being reduced.
If the Government was looking for a reaction, it certainly got one – that abolishing or reducing the RET is going to backfire. Another report revealed even reducing the target would only benefit coal and gas-fired power generation companies (to the tune of $10 billion) and electricity consumers would pay more for power.
The following are some of the comments made after the report of axing the RET was published.
Clean Energy Council
“Hundreds of Australian and international investors have built their businesses based on the strong bipartisanship of this policy which has existed in legislation since 2001. Tearing up this bipartisanship, and the policy itself, would show that the Australian energy sector is clearly not open for business – it would stop industry dead and smash investments that have already been made.”
SMA Australia:
“Slashing the RET will shatter the renewable energy industry – hundreds of businesses will go bust, thousands of people will lose their jobs. If the government slashes the RET, they will have broken an election promise and be out of touch with the rest of the world and the majority of Australians who want more renewable energy.”
Australian Solar Council
“This is a line in the sand moment for the solar industry. If the Government goes ahead with its plans to axe the RET, demand for solar will fall 40-50% straight away.”
“Solar saves money, creates jobs and shifts votes. The Abbott Government is about to find out how much Australians love solar and the Renewable Energy Target.”
Giles Parkinson – RenewEconomy
“This is shocking news, because it will bring to an end a $20 billion industry, and cost thousands of jobs, and force household and business bills to soar.”
Nigel Morris – Solar Business Services
“We need to stand up and be counted and rally every single consumer we can muster to show the Government at a minimum that axing the RET is going to cost them 4 Million votes. It’s going to cost them in the near term at a State level and in less than 24 months time, they will be reminded at a Federal level by the most powerful voting bloc in Australia’s history. The Solar Citizen.”
Australian Greens Leader Christine Milne
“Tony Abbott wants to destroy jobs, destroy investment and make power more expensive for consumers all because he wants to protect the old coal-fired generators and gas companies.”
“Tony Abbott’s mates in the big end of town, in the coal industry in particular, can’t cope with the competition from renewable energy.”
Australian Wind Alliance
“Mr Abbott has not been able to produce a coherent argument for why he would want to slash jobs and investments in regional Australia.”
“The modelling is now clear that reducing the reducing the current 2020 target will not deliver any benefit at all to power bills.”
According to the Clean Energy Council, 99 per cent of the 24,000 submissions to the review of the Renewable Energy Target called for the RET to be maintained or increased. That so many went to the trouble of making a submission should probably a solid tap on the shoulder for the Government that this is a potential scrap they best walk away from – and leave the RET untouched.
