Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek (right) and Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Plibersek said since coming to power last May,Labor had ended the Morrison government’s climate action “denial and delay”.
“Australia can be a renewable energy superpower,” she said. “We’re focused on boosting renewables and making up for lost time.”
However,federal government statistics released on Monday forecast that the volume of coal exports from existing mines would grow by 9 per cent in 2023-24. Exports of thermal coal,used in power plants,are expected to rise to 182 million tonnes,while exports of metallurgical coal,used in steel making,are forecast to reach 156 million tonnes.
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A Resources Department report also revealed that the combined value of coal,gas and oil projects that private companies had made a financial commitment to develop had reached $40 billion.
Plibersek said Australia would now be less reliant on fossil fuels if it weren’t for the political fights of the last decade.
“We need reliable,clean energy in the grid. That’s what we’re doing,” she said.