Media release: The Australian Labor Party’s Powering Australia Plan – some clarity but more to be done

The detail outlined in Labor’s Powering Australia Plan released today provides much needed clarity around how Labor’s emissions reduction targets will be met.  Importantly, it sets out a proposal to address the treatment of trade-exposed industries including Australia’s LNG export industry.

APPEA Chief Executive Andrew McConville said Australia’s oil and gas industry looks forward to further discussion with the Australian Labor Party, and all stakeholders, to ensure Australia’s emissions reduction targets will be met in an efficient and effective way.

‘’There is clearly more work to be done. We want to work with Labor Party, the Coalition, and all stakeholders to ensure we can all achieve the same goal and that is, a cleaner energy future for Australia.  We need to work together and that means an approach to climate change that integrates a range of other policies including, energy, trade, economic growth, and environmental and social responsibility.

‘’Natural gas can play a key role as part of Australia’s future energy mix, helping to reduce emissions at the same time as we move towards a cleaner energy future,” Mr McConville said.

“The Australian oil and gas industry has a long and proud history of proactive engagement in the discussion with all sides of politics around how we get the best measures and policies in place to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions,’’ Mr McConville said.

APPEA’s Climate Change Policy Principles outline the industry support for a national climate change policy that delivers greenhouse gas emissions reductions at least cost, meets emissions reduction targets consistent with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, while maintaining affordable, secure energy supplies to consumers and industries that provide jobs and economic growth.

The industry supports government policies and industry actions to get the economy to net zero emissions by 2050.

APPEA looks forward to working with the Australian Labor Party over the coming weeks to work through the detail from their Powering Australia plan in particular:

• Details of proposed changes to the Safeguard Mechanism, including the starting point for any reductions, how any changes to baselines will be determined and applied, how new entrants and expansions to existing facilities are treated.  Maintaining the industry’s international competitiveness and the attractiveness of Australia’s policy framework for new oil and gas industry investments will be an essential part of those discussions.
• The treatment of trade-exposed industries is a key issue for all industry, including Australia’s gas export industry. We will need to consider how trade-exposed industries/activities are to be defined, how trade-exposure is recognised in the mechanism, and how entrants and significant expansions are treated.
• Access to international permits and credits as a way to offset emissions.
• The further development of a domestic offset market

“Australia’s oil and gas industry is already playing a key role in meeting the challenge of reducing global emissions.  Clean hydrogen and CCS are game changers, and we will work with Labor and all stakeholders with the same goal of reducing emissions, creating jobs and economic opportunity for all Australians,” Mr McConville said.

Read this release as a PDF