Australia’s renewables industry, finance and investment sector, philanthropists and climate groups have teamed up to call for a major new era of economic reform to make Australia the global centre for the zero-emissions economy.
Appearing today before the Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment in Canberra, Smart Energy Council and Climate Capital Forum spokesman, Wayne Smith, called for transformative economic reform.
“Just as the 1980s saw the modernisation of the Australian economy, the 2020s must deliver the decarbonisation of the Australian economy.”
“The Albanese Government should rekindle and reimagine the ambition of the Hawke/Keating economic reforms to make Australia a modern zero emissions powerhouse.”
“The reform journey, which began with the new Safeguard Mechanism and National Reconstruction Fund, must be amplified in the May Budget and turbocharged in next year’s Federal Budget.”
“We must reform the Future Fund to focus exclusively on the zero emissions economy. If the Future Fund can’t or won’t be reformed, we need a new Sovereign Wealth Fund that positions Australia as a world leader in the critical minerals and zero emissions renewables that will drive the global economy of the future,” said Mr Smith.
Other major reforms called for by the Smart Energy Council and Climate Capital Forum include:
- An Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit to drive smart energy manufacturing;
- Dedicated and significant direct federal debt, equity, infrastructure, grant, export credit and venture capital funding in partnership with State Governments to unlock private sector investment to compete with major funding programs from the United States, China, India and the European Union; and
- A national emissions reduction target of at least 75% by 2035. The Smart Energy Council is Australia’s peak, independent renewable energy and renewable hydrogen industry body.
Climate Capital Forum brings together the renewable energy industry, climate-focused non-government organisations, financial and capital market experts, impact investors, philanthropists and policy experts.
Climate Capital Forum’s major report on modernising and decarbonising Australia’s economy can be found here.
