Economy talksBY EBONNIE LORD04 Oct, 2010 12:01...

Economy talks
BY EBONNIE LORD
04 Oct, 2010 12:01 PM
http://www.latrobevalleyexpress.com.au/news/local/news/general/economy-talks/1958912.aspx

A PRICE on carbon is ``essential'' for the region's future, a major forum in the Latrobe Valley has heard.

State Energy and Resources Minister Peter Batchelor gave the keynote address at the Committee for Economy and Development of Australia's `Latrobe Valley - Powering Towards a New Economy' forum at Monash University Gippsland last week.

About 120 representatives from business, industry and government attended, which involved more than 10 speakers including Monash Gippsland Pro-Vice Chancellor Helen Bartlett, Latrobe Regional Hospital chief executive Peter Craighead and Gippsland Regional Control Group chair Steve Kozlowski.

Mr Batchelor said projects like TRUenergy's combined-cycle gas plant would struggle to secure investment without a price on carbon.

``The Latrobe Valley has been the powerhouse of our economy for many years,'' Mr Batchelor said.

``We all know that brown coal power generation using current technologies here in the Latrobe Valley is the most polluting form of electricity generation in the country.

``This means that in order to significantly reduce Victoria's carbon emissions, a major rebuild of our electricity base will be critical.''

Mr Batchelor said as the epicentre of Victoria's coal power generation, this would have major impacts on the Valley but did not have to be negative.

``The issue won't be resolved with one policy announcement and the first thing to do is get a national price on carbon,'' he said.

``If we had a decision when the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was before Federal Parliament, we wouldn't be treading water.''

Mr Batchelor said people in the Latrobe Valley also needed to put forward what they had to offer including big transmission lines, a skilled workforce and a preparedness to retrain.

He said in the short to medium term the Valley would need to use brown coal to deliver baseload power.

``This reliance on brown coal will allow us to explore lower emissions technology,'' he said.

``The large scale demonstration plant like HRL is a good example and will emit almost half the emissions of Hazelwood.

``No one wants a repeat of the pain caused by the privatisation (by) our political opponents, the wounds are still deep, we need to learn from this experience.''