Russell Broadbent here, your Federal Member for Monash.
Energy policy should be aimed at making the conversion of energy into electricity, as cheap and available as possible.
Energy isn’t electricity. You can’t power your home with a lump of coal alone, and you can’t power your home with just the sun or the wind. As such, the cost of electricity lies within the cost of converting energy into electricity.
Electricity is now 340% more expensive than it was in 2012. Why’s that? Because renewables have forced their way into our energy grid.
Solar – as an example, is very competitive in the early hours of the day. But keep in mind that this is also at a time when demand for electricity is very low. To benefit from the ‘cheap’ qualities of renewables, we only need a small proportion of solar and wind in the energy mix.
In no advanced economy has a high proportion of renewables in the grid, ever resulted in lower power bills. In fact, it creates the opposite – A renewables-only energy mix creates exorbitantly expensive electricity which drives cost of living up, and business out of the country.
We shouldn’t have to go down the same tried and failed route, just to experience the same fate as countries like Germany, Finland, Denmark, Ireland and many others. Like us, they were blown away by the ‘too good to be true’ promises made by the renewables sector, and now they are paying the price - as consumers and as tax payers.
We are at an inflection point, where what we choose to do about our energy will have significant impacts on the generation to come.
We have abundant natural resources in this country - let’s use it. After all, Australia’s competitive advantage is in coal and gas. Let’s ensure that all Australians can benefit from the natural wealth of their nation.
That’s Justice as I see it.
