“Privatisation has failed. It’s failed pensioners,it’s failed families,it’s failed Victorians,” Andrews said.
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“The SEC is coming back,and,it’s going to be better than ever. It’s going to be 100 per cent renewable and it’s going to put downward pressure on bills. It’s going to cut emissions,and it’s going to create 60,000 jobs.
“Mr Kennett can vote for privatisation all he wants. Let’s see how the rest of Victoria votes.”
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy,whose grandfather and uncles worked for the SEC,said the people of the Latrobe Valley did not want a return to the past.
“They want to find something new,want a plan for the future. They don’t need the Labor government talking about the SEC circa 1975. The days of the SEC are gone. We need to look sensibly and realistically to a new future of energy generation,” Guy said.
Labor would also,if re-elected,accelerate its target to cut emissions by up to 80 per cent of 2005 levels by 2035 and net-zero by 2045 – five years earlier than planned.
The opposition shifted its stance on climate change,saying it would now support a net-zero emissions target by 2050. More recently,it announced it would legislate the 50 per cent by 2030 target.
The Coalition has also promised to establish a $1 billion hydrogen strategy,establish a taskforce to fix the state’s ageing power grid,and upgrade transmission infrastructure in western Victoria.
Guy said his plan was about the future.
“That’s why we’ve got a policy around gas. That’s why we’ve got a policy around renewables and that’s why we’ve got climate targets as well as incentives to take up batteries and solar for home generation as well. That’s about the future,” he said.
Energy experts and private sector operators toldThe Age last week the Andrews government’s $1 billion plan to ramp up renewable energy and become an active competitor in the state’s electricity marketwas likely to lead to Victoria’s three coal-fired plants shutting down years earlier than expected.
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