Queensland should scrap its commitment to net zero by 2050. In my view, this policy is driving the cost of living higher while causing widespread destruction of agricultural land and native vegetation along the Great Dividing Range from Cairns to the Queensland-New South Wales border.
The net zero argument is the principal driver of the whole cost of living issue. Everything becomes more expensive with the net zero by 2050 policy.
Premier David Crisafulli recently argued that renewable energy is bringing down the wholesale price of power. That may be so, however it is the retail cost of power that concerns consumers, whether they are industrial users, businesses or households.
Wholesale electricity prices do not include the cost of transmission lines, network upgrades, maintenance, distribution or retail costs. As far as consumers are concerned, this is what is driving up the cost of electricity.
The more renewable energy connected to the network, the more expensive power becomes. Coal is by far the cheapest form of power we have, yet it does not fit with the net zero emissions agenda.
Australia is sacrificing its living standards and industrial capacity to achieve nothing in terms of the rest of the world. It is time our political leaders formulated energy policy that is in Queensland and Australia’s best interests from a practical point of view, not an ideological one.
Across my electorate of Flynn there are more than one hundred renewable energy projects at various stages of approval. The majority of my constituents oppose these projects because they are destroying the landscape, native vegetation and agricultural land in their path.
The renewable energy industry is turning productive agricultural land into industrial energy zones that provide very little benefit to the communities most affected.
At the same time, the Federal Government is supporting many of these projects through the Capacity Investment Scheme, with taxpayers guaranteeing returns.
My constituents already know this. They support coal-fired power because it provides the cheapest baseload electricity Queensland can deliver.
They also understand that renewable energy requires billions of dollars of investment in new transmission lines and that renewable generation alone cannot provide reliable baseload power twenty-four hours a day for industry and households.
The Queensland Government is attempting to address this by building gas peaking generators, but that also produces more expensive electricity than coal-fired generation.
I have recently returned from the United Kingdom and Europe, where I saw firsthand the challenges energy systems face when reliable generation is replaced before suitable alternatives are in place.
The fact is renewable energy is unreliable when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine.
Australia is heading down this path. We need to stop destroying our economy and our way of life before it is too late.
Colin Boyce MP
Federal Member for Flynn
