2016-05-21
Mr BARBER (Northern Metropolitan) — In fact all projections — and certainly those up to 2020 — are that Victoria's consumption of energy is in decline. So if the revenue is stable and that means the amount of coal being burnt is stable, it seems quite likely that the amount of energy produced from coal burning will also be stable, and yet consumption is declining. There is only one other possibility, and that is that the Premier in announcing the renewable energy target actually had a target based on the proportion of generation, not of consumption.
So if overall consumption is declining but the Premier has made no announcement about what proportion of the consumption will be renewable, in fact he could very well be just continuing to export more coal-fired power to other states and still get all the money that he is expecting to get from coal. Now if the government is going to claim that this is part of a transition to renewable energy and yet there is no reduction in the amount of coal burnt, then it is necessary for the government to explain how this measure will increase the proportion of renewable energy either generated or consumed, because it is pretty clear that the amount of coal burnt will continue at the same level.
To access full speeches and debates please visit http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/hansard where you can search Victorian Hansard publications from 1991 onwards.