Related article: Labor delivers biggest clean energy Budget in history

Senator McAllister drove the National Energy Performance Strategy and the Consumer Energy Resources Taskforce. These provide a foundation for the new assistant minister to enable solar and electrification for more households, including renters, apartments and low income demographics.

Josh Wilson has been federal member for Fremantle since 2016.

“It’s an honour to have been asked by the Prime Minister to take on the responsibility of serving as the Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy, working with Minister Chris Bowen,” he said in a statement.

“There is no area of greater challenge and greater opportunity for Australia, and I relish the chance to work with communities around the country, with innovators and entrepreneurs, with businesses and clean energy advocates and civil society to continue the Albanese government’s sharp focus on the path to net zero, with cheaper energy, cleaner air, and a safe climate.

“Our approach will always involve taking action now and supporting households, including with the cost of living, while laying the foundation for lasting positive change in renewable generation, storage, transmission, transport, and efficiency, including through collaborative work with nations in our region.

Related article: Bowen says replacing coal with nuclear would cost $387b

“For her tireless work in this portfolio, I pay homage to my friend, colleague and now Minister, the Hon Senator Jenny McAllister and extend my congratulations on her new appointment.”

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Clean Energy Council CEO Kane Thornton said this year’s Budget demonstrated “resolute and ambitious leadership” by the Albanese Government on the nation’s clean energy transition.

Related article: Future Made in Australia Act to drive competitive renewables

“The government is doubling down on clean energy, which will deliver lower electricity prices, thousands of jobs in the clean economy and will set Australia up to fulfil its potential as a clean energy superpower,” he said.

Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie also described the 2024-25 Federal Budget as a “decisive turn towards Australia’s clean energy future”.

McKenzie said, “Gas and coal are not part of the budget’s vision for a Future Made in Australia, underlining that our next era of prosperity can be built on cleaner foundations. This is an essential signal across our entire economy.

“Building a renewable future and clean industrial base will deliver good jobs and greater prospects for Australians. This is critical to slash climate pollution and protect our kids’ future.

“Both sides of politics should back this vision for Australia.”

The 2024-25 Budget includes:

Power bill relief

Headlining the 2024-25 Federal Budget is a $3.5 billion energy bill relief scheme that aims to alleviate pressure on households and small businesses struggling to manage rising electricity prices. More than 10 million households will receive a rebate of $300 while eligible small businesses will get back $325 on their energy bills throughout the year.

Investment in renewable capacity

The government is unlocking more than $65 billion of investment in renewable capacity through the Capacity Investment Scheme by 2030.

Measures include investing $27.7 million to integrate consumer energy resources like batteries and solar into the grid, while the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard will save Australians around $95 billion at the bowser by 2050 and reduce transport emissions.

Future Made in Australia

The government’s $1.7 billion Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund delivers a 10‑year extension of funding to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) as well as the $44.4 million Energy Industry Jobs Plan and $134.2 million for skills and employment support in key regions.

The Future Made in Australia package establishes time‑limited incentives to invest in new industries. The Hydrogen Production Tax Incentive will make Australia’s pipeline of hydrogen projects commercial sooner, at an estimated cost of $6.7 billion over the decade. This Budget also expands the Hydrogen Headstart program by $1.3 billion.

Green exports

The 2024-25 Budget provides $32.2 million to fast‑track the initial phase of the Guarantee of Origin scheme, focused on renewable hydrogen, and bring forward the expansion of the scheme to accredit the emissions content of green metals and low‑carbon liquid fuels.

The government is also working closely with trading partners to identify opportunities to drive greater supply chain transparency and better market recognition of high environmental, social and governance standards in the critical minerals sector.

Net zero transformation

Australia is committed to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and is developing six sector plans covering electricity and energy; transport; industry; resources; agriculture and land; and the built environment.

The Budget continues investment in effective emissions abatement, including through $63.8 million to support emissions reduction efforts in the agriculture and land sector.

The government is also investing $399 million to establish the Net Zero Economy Authority and support the economy‑wide net zero transformation. This Budget also invests an additional $48 million in reforms to the Australian Carbon Credit Unit scheme and $20.7 million to improve community engagement.

Resources and critical minerals

The government is investing $8.8 billion over the decade to add more value to Australia’s resources and strengthen critical minerals supply chains. The Budget establishes a production tax incentive for processing and refining critical minerals at an estimated cost of $7 billion over the decade. It commits up to $1.2 billion in strategic critical minerals projects through the Critical Minerals Facility and the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, and pre‑feasibility studies for common user precincts.

This is in addition to $566.1 million to support Geoscience Australia to map all of Australia’s critical minerals, strategic materials, groundwater and other resources essential for the transition to net zero.

Manufacturing clean energy technologies

The government is committing $1.5 billion to manufacturing clean energy technologies, including the $1 billion Solar Sunshot and $523.2 million Battery Breakthrough Initiative. These investments will be delivered by ARENA.

Related article: Australia invests in resource mapping for energy transition

Strengthening supply chains

To support the delivery of the 82% renewable energy target, the Government has formed the National Renewable Energy Supply Chain Action Plan with states and territories. The Government will invest an additional $14.3 million working with trade partners to support global rules on unfair trade practices and to negotiate benchmarks for trade in high-quality critical minerals.

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Albanese said the long-term investment of $566.1 million over 10 years would deliver data, maps and tools to point the resource industry to new discoveries.

Related article: Future Made in Australia Act to drive competitive renewables

The move will be led by Geoscience Australia and will for the first time include offshore areas, with an eye on sites for carbon capture and storage as well as clean hydrogen projects.

“We know that making more solar panels, batteries and clean energy technology means exploring and extracting more lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, critical minerals and rare earths. These are the ingredients of the next big minerals boom and my government is working to make it easier to find more and meet the world’s appetite for them,” the Prime Minister said.

“By investing significantly in geoscience, we build on our strengths and our natural advantages. We take Australia closer to our rightful future as a clean energy superpower.”

Through this program, regional communities, farmers and First Nations peoples will be supported to manage their land and water resources, and be more fully informed about potential mining projects.

For the first time Resourcing Australia’s Prosperity (RAP) will map offshore areas of Australia as well, pointing the way for sites for carbon capture and storage, as well as possible sites for clean hydrogen projects.

It will provide a deeper understanding of the resource potential of the country’s regions by mapping Australia’s groundwater systems, supporting climate resilience, the agricultural sector, and water security for communities and the environment.

Geoscience Australia’s precompetitive data program has already led to major discoveries— including deposits of the critical minerals and rare earths needed to build clean energy technologies to get to net zero.

Related article: Government pledges $2 billion towards critical minerals

Precompetitive geoscience is the key to the strength of Australia’s resources sector, with Deloitte Access Economics finding that existing public precompetitive geoscience was estimated to have supported $76 billion of value added to the Australian economy and 80,000 full-time equivalent jobs in 2021-2022 alone.

Australian precompetitive geoscience has helped stimulate an unprecedented level of exploration activity, with 65 companies exploring across 569 tenements, covering over 290,000 square kilometres of Australia.

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The government will provide $400 million in new loans to Australian company Alpha HPA to deliver Australia’s first high-purity alumina processing facility in Queensland.

Related article: Future Made in Australia Act to drive competitive renewables

The company will use Australian owned IP and technology to process high purity alumina—a critical mineral used in LED lighting, semiconductors, and lithium-ion batteries and other high-tech applications.

The government has also conditionally approved $185 million to Renascor Resources to fast track the development of Stage One of its Siviour Graphite Project in South Australia. The original loan was approved in February 2022, and this decision means that Stage One of the project will be brought forward sooner.

Renascor Resources will deliver the sustainable and ethically sourced production of Australian-made purified graphite, for use in lithium-ion batteries required for electric vehicles and renewable technologies.

The Critical Minerals Facility has now committed to support projects and jobs across the country, including in Western Australia, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, “We are building a future made in Australia with secure jobs in our regions. Today we are demonstrating what that means here in Gladstone and in South Australia.

Related article: Government pledges $2 billion towards critical minerals

“The global race for new jobs and new opportunities is on. Our Government wants Australia to be in it to win it.

“These two critical minerals projects will help secure good and secure jobs in manufacturing, and clean, reliable energy.”

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Australia is responding to the raft of renewables incentives in US President Joe Biden’s $430 billion Inflation Reduction Act and the European Commission’s Green Deal Industrial Plan.

Related article: Why Biden’s renewables race could set Australia back

In a speech given on Friday night, Albanese said, “Every nation needs to decarbonise and electrify.

“When we talk about a future made in Australia—we want it made the Australian way. Not entering a race to the bottom on pay and conditions but driving a new generation of good jobs and fair wages in safe workplaces. Highly-skilled workers, making high-value products.

“This is a task that traverses far more than energy policy, or industry policy. This is a whole-of-nation opportunity and it demands a whole-of-economy approach.

“It all has to fit together, it all has to pull in the same direction.”

The Clean Energy Council has welcomed the Prime Minister’s comments.

“Reports that the Albanese Government is planning a substantial funding package to respond to the Biden Administration’s US$624 billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), are an encouraging sign for Australia’s future as a clean energy superpower.

“The Clean Energy Council has advocated for an Australian response to the heightened competition for capital investment, labour and resources driven by the legislation, as well as the responses from other global players, including the European Union and Japan.”

Clean Energy Council CEO Kane Thornton, said that while further details about a response to the IRA have yet to be made public, the government has demonstrated that it is serious about ensuring that Australia’s clean energy transformation isn’t left behind in the global clean energy investment race.

Related article: Funding to help boost locally made renewable energy tech

The IRA has unleashed a wave of clean energy investment announcements since it was passed in August 2022, exceeding US$420 billion worth of capital investments, 282GW of clean energy projects, and 42,000 American manufacturing jobs.

“Securing and maintaining a solid flow of investment in Australia also works hand in glove with the work of Commonwealth, state and territory governments to coordinate and improve policies aimed at minimising costs and delays, and harmonising elements of our domestic energy transformation,” Thornton said.

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The Climate Club was formed last year by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Other members include G7 countries Germany, France, Italy, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, United States, European Union Council and Commission, as well as Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Related article: EU Parliament backs major climate policy reforms

“We’re very pleased to join the climate club because we are ambitious and we also see that this isn’t just the right thing to do by the environment, but this is also the right thing to do by jobs and by our economy,” Albanese said at a news conference in Berlin after meeting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“One thing we can do is to cooperate and learn off each other, because you can’t address climate change as just a national issue. It has to be by definition, a global response,” Albanese said.

The news was welcomed by Climate Council director of research Dr Simon Bradshaw, who said, “Joining the climate club is a good move, but must be backed by stronger steps at home to phase out fossil fuels and build the clean industries of the future.

“International collaboration is key to achieving the emissions reductions we need to combat the climate crisis. But we need to see any new international partnerships backed with real action.

“The fact is Australia’s emissions reduction target remains weaker than Europe’s, the US, and other members of the climate club. We will now rightly see even more international pressure on Australia to up our game.

“The climate club aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. However, this is far too slow—we really should be aiming to achieve net zero by 2035.”

Climate Councillor and economist Nicki Hutley said joining the climate club was symbolic of our reputational shift from a climate outlier and laggard to one that is now being welcomed back into the fold.

Related article: Climate Council wants end to fossil fuel sponsorships

“Previously, at COP meetings, Australia was almost considered an outcast. Now, we’re welcomed by other nations. Despite making progress, we can and should accelerate our emissions reduction efforts, given our vast natural and financial resources,” she said.
“We mustn’t rest on our laurels, but we are certainly being welcomed into the international fold more than we have been for a long time.”

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Widodo wants to build an electric vehicle battery production industry in Indonesia, which has the world’s largest reserves of nickel, and is seeking cooperation from Australia, a major supplier of battery mineral lithium.

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“Indonesia and Australia must build a more substantive and strategic economic cooperation through the joint production of EV batteries,” Widodo told reporters after a meeting with Albanese in Sydney.

Electric Vehicle Council CEO Behyad Jafari welcomed the news.

“We welcome this commitment between Australia and Indonesia to advance the development of an electric vehicle production ecosystem,” Jafari said.

“It’s encouraging to see a shift towards positive leadership from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to develop Australia’s opportunities in the EV sector.

“Creating global partnerships, attracting international investment, and changing perceptions of Australia on the world stage are vital if we want to catch up with and lead the developed world with EVs.

“Collaborating with Indonesia is an exciting opportunity for our country to get involved in advanced EV battery production. It also shows that despite our international performance and reputation on EVs, countries in our region recognise our potential to shift gears and become an EV-manufacturing powerhouse that harnesses our rich resources and highly skilled workforce.

Related article: Australian EV charging startup JOLT enters Canadian market

“But we can’t be leaders in EV manufacturing and new technology while we remain the world’s dirty car dumping ground. With the government now in the process of setting a new vehicle efficiency standard, it’s absolutely critical that this standard is mandatory and globally competitive for the sake of our environment, health and hip pockets.

“Research shows motorists can save up to $10,000 over a vehicle’s lifetime if a strong, effective, competitive standard is adopted in Australia.”

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The new, legislated Net Zero Authority will:

1. Support workers in emissions-intensive sectors to access new employment, skills and support as the net zero transformation continues.
2. Coordinate programs and policies across government to support regions and communities to attract and take advantage of new clean energy industries and set those industries up for success.
3. Help investors and companies to engage with net zero transformation opportunities.

Related article: “A rotten decision”: NT approves Beetaloo fracking

To kickstart the authority’s responsibilities immediately, the government intends to establish an agency from July 1 this year, initially housed in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. The agency will also lead on providing advice to government on the final design and establishment of the legislated National Net Zero Authority.

The authority will work with state, territory and local governments, existing regional bodies, unions, industry, investors, First Nations groups and others to help key regions, industries, employers and others proactively manage the transformation to a clean energy economy.

The government will also provide additional funding from the $1.9 billion Powering the Regions Fund to support existing industry—such as rail and aviation—and new clean energy industries, with the creation of a $400 million Industrial Transformation Stream.

The news was welcomed by the Clean Energy Council, with CEO Kane Thornton commenting, “A Net Zero Authority will safeguard worker support, ensure regional employment and enrich education in the sector and beyond.

Related article: Australia needs National Zero Emission Truck Strategy

“A Net Zero Authority is a vital piece of the puzzle as we shift towards a cleaner, more prosperous economic future for all Australians.”

University of Queensland economist Professor John Quiggin said, “A transition out of thermal coal is going to occur, because the world is moving to other sources of energy— our choice is whether that transition is planned and orderly, or delayed and disorderly.”

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