Labor's plan for a 50% renewable energy target

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has announced an ambitious plan for Australia’s future electricity mix, stating that a Labor government will commit to at least 50% renewables by 2030.

The party has indicated that it will work with industry and the community in order to achieve the transition to an expanded renewable energy industry, which will be the centrepiece of its response to the challenge of climate change. The party additionally stated that a strong renewables sector will create jobs, drive investment and push down power bills.

The news has been welcomed by the Australian Solar Council, which has been campaigning for a policy commitment of 50% renewables by 2030 since November 2014.

“50% renewables by 2030 will ensure Australia takes advantage of the biggest economic opportunity our country has ever seen — the unstoppable global transition to a clean energy future,” said the council’s CEO, John Grimes.

“Australia will join all of its major trading partners — China, US, EU, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea — in embracing solar and renewable energy.

“Labor’s commitment means thousands of clean energy jobs, regional development and new economic opportunities across Australia.”

The Electrical Trades Union is particularly pleased with the promise of job creation, with National Secretary Allen Hicks saying the news comes in “stark contrast” to the uncertainty which has been created by Prime Minister Tony Abbott over the past two years.

But the union noted that Shorten’s plan should be coupled with appropriate support for existing energy workers. According to Hicks, the announcement must be followed by “a modernisation roadmap for workers in traditional energy production areas, including industry assistance, retraining and upskilling of power workers to ensure they are not left behind in the transition to renewables”.

“There also needs to be clarity and certainty provided to the business community, with confirmation that it is safe and viable to invest in the renewable energy sector over the long term,” he said.

The Greens Party, meanwhile, claims that while a Renewable Energy Target of 50% is better than the Abbott government’s current offering (the Coalition is yet to settle on its own post-2020 target), it remains short of what scientists say is necessary to limit global warming.

“Saying you’ll make better climate policy than Tony Abbott is like saying you’ll outrun a newborn baby,” said Acting Leader Larissa Waters. “Of course you will. But it doesn’t mean you’re keeping pace with the rest of the world, or what’s necessary.

“The Greens have long advocated a Renewable Energy Target of 90% by 2030, which is what the science says we need — to protect the community from the devastating impacts of global warming on our health, the health of our environment and our economy.”

Waters additionally stated that she would be interested to hear the Labor Party’s policies for shutting down coal power, which she described as “the missing link”.

However, she ultimately welcomed Labor’s change of tack on the issue, calling it “a significant shift” from the party’s recent agreement with the Coalition to reduce the 2020 Renewable Energy Target from 41,000 to 33,000 GWh.

“We look forward to an election campaign in which global warming is front and centre,” Waters said.