During his recent visit to Australia, the head of the International Energy Agency warned us “that the dark and long shadows of geopolitics are all over the energy sector now”.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen’s speech at the National Press Club on Wednesday, on the theme of Energy Security in an Uncertain World, was perfectly timed, coming on the eve of a possible breakthrough in the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
However it turned out to be an opportunity lost. Instead of an energy policy reset, integrating energy security with national security, Bowen remained steadfast in his support for a transition to an intermittent, weather-dependent renewables energy system. His announcement extending financial support for the installation of solar systems on commercial rooftops was an admission that the government would not meet its 82 per cent renewables grid by 2030.
Bowen defended the renewables transition, sticking by his earlier comments that “no war can impede the flow of sun to Australia” and “no sanctions can be applied to wind”. He claimed “no one had said we need more fossil fuels … it was not a conversation being had anywhere around the world”.
Bridging the deepening divide over energy policy is a necessary first step. The energy crisis made clear the importance of fossil fuels, with coal, gas and oil accounting for about 90 per cent of Australia’s primary energy mix. Diesel, the industrial fuel, is indispensable for freight, transport, agriculture, mining, defence and emergency services. When diesel stops, the economy stops.
Bowen appears oblivious to this reality and from early days has refused to recognise gas as a transition fuel. He continues to promote an anti-fossil fuels agenda, even in international forums.
As COP31’s president of negotiations he made media headlines at the recent UN climate meeting in Bonn, urging “we need to get off fossil fuels”. It has been his constant theme since COP28 in Dubai in 2023. Speaking on our behalf, he argued that “we don’t need to phase out fossil fuel emissions, we need to end the use of fossil fuels … they don’t have a future in our energy system”. It was an astonishing statement coming from the minister of one of the largest exporters of fossil fuels.
Bowen well knows that achieving consensus about fossil fuels at COP31 is problematic. Even the agreement struck at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels in a “just, orderly and equitable manner” was short-lived. It collapsed last year at the gathering in Brazil. Undeterred, along with 24 nations, Bowen signed Australia up to the Belem Declaration, pledging to pursue the issue outside the auspices of COP and the UN.
Australia was one of 57 nations that participated in a recent Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels conference in Colombia. The conference’s decisions, including support for a fossil fuel treaty, will be considered at the coming COP31 in Turkey. Australia’s delegation extended from climate groups to Fortescue and was led by an official from Bowen’s department. We still are to learn what Australia signed up to.
A new electrification target of 35 per cent by 2035 is also on the agenda. A catchy slogan shouldn’t mask the impacts domestically on manufacturing, minerals processing and all forms of transport.
There’s bound to be lively debates in Turkey, testing Bowen’s “middle-power diplomacy” as COP’s president of negotiations.
Bowen has never explained how he reconciles his opposition to fossil fuels at COP with Labor’s Future Gas Strategy. It explains that gas “will remain an important source of energy through to 2050 and beyond”, needing “continued exploration, investment and development” and plays “a crucial role supporting our economy … and our export partners”.
While these debates will continue in international forums, at home there’s growing support for an energy plan that aims to secure energy independence. The recent uranium deal with India gives momentum to this ambition. We are the only G20 nation with a ban on nuclear energy, dating back nearly 30 years.
In a country blessed with energy resources, people rightly question why we are fuelling the future prosperity of other nations but not our own. It makes no sense, particularly now that energy policy can no longer be separated from geopolitics. Nuclear power is not just another energy technology but would also provide sovereign capability. The nuclear ban should be lifted and the market tested for next-generation micro and modular reactors. They could make a positive contribution in meeting the energy demands of data centres.
Bowen will have the opportunity to see the benefits of nuclear energy while at COP31 in Turkey. One unit of Turkey’s first nuclear plant will be operational soon. It’s the first step in its plans for 7.2 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2035 and 20GW by 2050. The plan is for an energy mix using nuclear, domestic coal and gas as well as renewable solar, wind and hydropower. It’s a useful case study, considering Turkey is a late adopter of nuclear energy.
Our national interest is best met by securing our energy independence. We have all the means to make it possible. It just needs an acceptance of reality and the political will to make it happen. We didn’t find this in Bowen’s contribution on Wednesday.
Jennie George is a former federal Labor MP and a former president of the ACTU.
During his recent visit to Australia, the head of the International Energy Agency warned us “that the dark and long shadows of geopolitics are all over the energy sector now”.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen’s speech at the National Press Club on Wednesday, on the theme of Energy Security in an Uncertain World, was perfectly timed, coming on the eve of a possible breakthrough in the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
However it turned out to be an opportunity lost. Instead of an energy policy reset, integrating energy security with national security, Bowen remained steadfast in his support for a transition to an intermittent, weather-dependent renewables energy system. His announcement extending financial support for the installation of solar systems on commercial rooftops was an admission that the government would not meet its 82 per cent renewables grid by 2030.
Bowen defended the renewables transition, sticking by his earlier comments that “no war can impede the flow of sun to Australia” and “no sanctions can be applied to wind”. He claimed “no one had said we need more fossil fuels … it was not a conversation being had anywhere around the world”.
Bridging the deepening divide over energy policy is a necessary first step. The energy crisis made clear the importance of fossil fuels, with coal, gas and oil accounting for about 90 per cent of Australia’s primary energy mix. Diesel, the industrial fuel, is indispensable for freight, transport, agriculture, mining, defence and emergency services. When diesel stops, the economy stops.
Bowen appears oblivious to this reality and from early days has refused to recognise gas as a transition fuel. He continues to promote an anti-fossil fuels agenda, even in international forums.
As COP31’s president of negotiations he made media headlines at the recent UN climate meeting in Bonn, urging “we need to get off fossil fuels”. It has been his constant theme since COP28 in Dubai in 2023. Speaking on our behalf, he argued that “we don’t need to phase out fossil fuel emissions, we need to end the use of fossil fuels … they don’t have a future in our energy system”. It was an astonishing statement coming from the minister of one of the largest exporters of fossil fuels.
Bowen well knows that achieving consensus about fossil fuels at COP31 is problematic. Even the agreement struck at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels in a “just, orderly and equitable manner” was short-lived. It collapsed last year at the gathering in Brazil. Undeterred, along with 24 nations, Bowen signed Australia up to the Belem Declaration, pledging to pursue the issue outside the auspices of COP and the UN.
Australia was one of 57 nations that participated in a recent Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels conference in Colombia. The conference’s decisions, including support for a fossil fuel treaty, will be considered at the coming COP31 in Turkey. Australia’s delegation extended from climate groups to Fortescue and was led by an official from Bowen’s department. We still are to learn what Australia signed up to.
A new electrification target of 35 per cent by 2035 is also on the agenda. A catchy slogan shouldn’t mask the impacts domestically on manufacturing, minerals processing and all forms of transport.
There’s bound to be lively debates in Turkey, testing Bowen’s “middle-power diplomacy” as COP’s president of negotiations.
Bowen has never explained how he reconciles his opposition to fossil fuels at COP with Labor’s Future Gas Strategy. It explains that gas “will remain an important source of energy through to 2050 and beyond”, needing “continued exploration, investment and development” and plays “a crucial role supporting our economy … and our export partners”.
While these debates will continue in international forums, at home there’s growing support for an energy plan that aims to secure energy independence. The recent uranium deal with India gives momentum to this ambition. We are the only G20 nation with a ban on nuclear energy, dating back nearly 30 years.
In a country blessed with energy resources, people rightly question why we are fuelling the future prosperity of other nations but not our own. It makes no sense, particularly now that energy policy can no longer be separated from geopolitics. Nuclear power is not just another energy technology but would also provide sovereign capability. The nuclear ban should be lifted and the market tested for next-generation micro and modular reactors. They could make a positive contribution in meeting the energy demands of data centres.
Bowen will have the opportunity to see the benefits of nuclear energy while at COP31 in Turkey. One unit of Turkey’s first nuclear plant will be operational soon. It’s the first step in its plans for 7.2 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2035 and 20GW by 2050. The plan is for an energy mix using nuclear, domestic coal and gas as well as renewable solar, wind and hydropower. It’s a useful case study, considering Turkey is a late adopter of nuclear energy.
Our national interest is best met by securing our energy independence. We have all the means to make it possible. It just needs an acceptance of reality and the political will to make it happen. We didn’t find this in Bowen’s contribution on Wednesday.
Jennie George is a former federal Labor MP and a former president of the ACTU.