Climate change: Renewable transition in Australia will be costly, Peta Credlin, Chris Bowen warn
Australia's transition to renewable power will, by all accounts, be one of the most expensive and complex undertakings in the nation's history - and it's a transition even Minister Chris Bowen knows will require 'unprecedented' effort from thousands of people. The rapid shift to net zero emissions is now the 'law of the land' thanks to the Albanese government's ambitious climate change bill passing in both the and the House of Representatives. But exactly what it will cost is yet to be pinned down, and despite the government's insistence the lights will stay on and power bills will drop, commentators have begun to question if we are 'speeding towards a renewables wreck'. 'No-one in authority has the courage and intellectual honesty to explain the magnitude of the power transition this country is forced by law to embark on and the dire consequences of its likely failure,' Peta Credlin, 's former chief of staff, wrote in a column for on Wednesday. In late September, Mr Bowen admitted that to meet the government's net-zero goal, 40 large wind turbines a month and 22,000 solar panels a day would need to be erected by 2030. Mr Bowen said this would require Australia to 'mine, move and manufacture immense volumes of material, energy and equipment ... and to train and mobilise hundreds of thousands of skilled workers (in a) collective endeavour that is almost of unprecedented scale'. Nationals leader David Littleproud told Today on Thursday that 'Labor's ideology doesn't match the practical reality'. He claimed the government should be investing more in mining natural gas and associated infrastructure instead of 'ripping away tens of millions of dollars in more exploration'. 'This reckless path they are taking us on means everyone will pay,' he said. At a forum in October, featuring chief executives from the country's top electricity companies, Alinta CEO Jeff Dimery warned power prices would rise by 35 per cent next year, pointing out it would take an $8billion investment in renewables to replace $1billion worth of fossil fuel capacity. Origin Energy CEO Frank Calabria said at the same forum that based on current wholesale costs, electricity prices would increase sharply when new tariffs are set next July. The government's climate change bill requires greenhouse gas emissions to drop 43 per cent by 2030 and hit net-zero by 2050. 'Coal will have to drop from supplying 60 per cent-plus of our power needs to under 10 per cent within eight years. And renewables will have to rise from supplying about 30 per cent now to more than 80 per cent,' Credlin wrote. 'In practical terms, that's 28,000km of poles and wires with the trained trades to erect it, and necessary access to farming land and property across the country.' Last month, 2GB host Ben Fordham claimed the nation's politicians had 'moved too fast' on climate promises. 'They have attempted to jump off the boat before we reached the dock,' he said. In the October budget, the government revealed retail electricity prices would rise by 56 per cent and gas prices would jump by 40 per cent during the next two years. The government is reportedly considering capping gas prices in an attempt to reduce bill shock for Australian households, but Chair of the Australian Energy Regulator Clare Savage insisted this alone 'isn't enough'. Mr Bowen told Sky News the government 'will not stand by and allow these pressures to flow through to households and industry'. Yet in the same interview, Mr Bowen admitted he was 'reluctant to intervene (in market pricing) without being entirely sure of the implications of what we're doing'. Peta Credlin urged the government to change its plan. 'If we keep heading for the same destination at the same speed (in the renewable electricity transition), a train wreck is inevitable. Only instead of saying slow down or change course, almost our entire political class is saying to push on even faster,' Credlin said. While most Australians support action to reduce climate change, a recent YouGov poll showed only 4 per cent would be prepared to see their power bills rise to $1,200 a year. A separate poll of 2,691 people from the Climate of the Nation Report released Thursday shows Australians do support taxing power companies more. Almost two-thirds of those surveyed, at 62 per cent, support a levy on fossil fuel exports to help keep fuel in Australia, rather than allowing companies to export it overseas for massive profits.