MEDIA RELEASE26 August 2024NET ZERO FAILURE CONTINUES“Renewed...

MEDIA RELEASE26 August 2024NET ZERO FAILURE CONTINUES“Renewed warnings from business leaders, manufacturers, and energy companies of further power price spikes and heightened blackout risk once again demonstrates that net zero has failed,” said Daniel Wild, Deputy Executive Director of the Institute of Public Affairs.Today, outgoing Senex Energy CEO Ian Davies said, “thanks largely to government inaction and intervention – in a few short years, we won’t have enough gas supply in Australia to meet our demand.”Industry peak body, Manufacturing Australia, has also noted that Australia’s globally uncompetitive energy prices are threatening the viability of companies in the industry.“That a resource-rich, energy-abundant country, such as Australia, can no longer guarantee the lights will be kept on, demonstrates the failure of net zero policies, which have led to the rapid, ideologically driven, decommissioning of baseload power generation,” said Mr Wild.“The federal government’s Future Made in Australia policy is already collapsing due to its renewable zealotry, as manufacturers cannot compete internationally when they are forced to use unreliable and costly weather-dependent energy sources.”The warnings from business leaders comes of the back of IPA research, which has shown:•Only 19 per cent of Australians believe meeting the net zero emissions by 2050 target should be the main focus of the federal government’s energy policy. While 81 per cent believe affordability or reliability should be the focus.•95 per cent of Australians are unwilling to pay more than $100 per year to reach net zero mandates.•54 per cent of Australians want a pause on net zero mandates.“As mainstream Australians continue to face a cost-of-living crisis, it is time governments, at all levels, prioritise energy affordability and reliability, rather than continuing to pursue the failing energy transition to expensive and unreliable renewables,” said Mr Wild.The IPA is calling on governments to act urgently to restore Australia’s natural competitive economic advantage in low-cost, reliable energy supply, by:•Ruling out the closure of any more coal-fired power stations at least until a like-for-like baseload replacements come online.•Removing red tape and unnecessary environmental barriers to the development of natural gas resources.•Immediately stop the roll-out of large-scale solar and wind projects throughout regional Australia, which are compromising prime farmland, and are failing to deliver reliable energy.“The only way to lower power bills, and to secure our energy grid, is with affordable and reliable energy generation. Canberra needs to put mainstream Australians first, and abandon its reckless net zero commitments, and rapidly get more coal and gas generation into the market,” said Mr Wild.To download the IPA’s net zero polling click here.For media and comment: Andrew Hudgson, Director of Communications, on 0404 020 896, or at [email protected]