Global shift to renewables 'a race Australia can win'

If Australia doesn’t want to remain “the last link in the global supply chain”, the government must think big on renewables and take inspiration from its neighbours, the prime minister will say.

Overseas, the US government in 2022 committed to its Inflation Reduction Act that will provide $A520 billion in programs and funding to accelerate the net-zero transition.

The EU’s 2020 Green Deal serves a similar purpose, as does Japan’s Green Transformation Act released in February 2023.

With fears these schemes could encourage capital, resources and talent to go elsewhere, Australia’s federal government may have to respond in kind.

Anthony Albanese is expected to set the scene of Australia’s energy future in a speech to the University of Newcastle on Friday.

The PM will set the scene of Australia’s energy future in a speech at Newcastle University. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)

“You can see that in the unprecedented investments the United States and the EU and Japan and Korea are making in their industrial bases,” he will say.

“I don’t want us to spend another generation as the last link in the global supply chain.

“I want to see more Australian workers and Australians firms adding value here.”

The government has already legislated a target that would reduce emissions by 43 per cent come 2030, and dedicated $15 billion to a National Reconstruction Fund aimed at boosting productivity.

All advanced economies are on a decarbonisation journey and the prime minister says “it’s a race that Australia can win”.

“In all of this, we must be prepared to think big.”

Australia is the world’s largest supplier of lithium, the fourth largest provider of cobalt and the third of rare earth minerals, and maintains a workforce skilled in safe extraction.

This means the nation could also export resources required for clean energy to other countries, diversify its trade partners and help facilitate the emergence of new technologies.

“We don’t have to go dollar-for-dollar in our spending,” the prime minister will say.

“But we can go toe-to-toe on the quality and impact of our policies.

“That’s why I talk about Australia as a renewable energy superpower – because that’s the truly global scale of the opportunity.”