Month: October 2020

Cheap energy is critical to reviving the Australian economy and creating new jobs.
But there’s a roadblock to reducing power prices – the inefficiency of our electricity transmission system.
Running from Tasmania to Far North Queensland, Australia’s National Energy Market grid is one of the longest in the world. But it’s not fit for purpose.
We have already seen catastrophic failures. Tasmania’s Basslink was cut off from the mainland grid for six months and wholesale electricity prices there rocketed.
Our transmission system was built for a time when solar panels ran pocket calculators, not the one in four households which have rooftop solar. The current network takes no account of the rise of renewables as the cheapest new energy source and doesn’t help link these new sources up to the national grid.
A Labor government will tackle this head-on. We would invest in the Rewiring the Nation project, an overhaul of the grid that will create jobs, reduce power prices and facilitate Australia’s potential as a renewable energy superpower.
We need a more efficient grid that can move energy in multiple directions and from far more locations.
Upgrading the grid is technology-neutral. Because renewable energy is the cheapest method of new production it will benefit most and allow the distribution of the cheapest source more efficiently.
If there’s more wind blowing in South Australia than they can use, the right transmission infrastructure will mean they can sell the excess to Victoria and NSW, lowering energy bills in the process.
It will facilitate the export of hydropower from Tasmania to the mainland. This is common sense.
Rewiring the Nation will reduce power prices. Transmission systems are operated in each state by a monopoly provider, some foreign-owned. Those companies charge ordinary Australians not only the cost of building and operating the grid, but have in the past inflated costs in a process known as “gold plating”.
Labor wants to swap gold plating for a gold standard. Renewing the grid will be delivered by a public non-financial corporation to be called Rewiring the Nation.
It will partner with transmission companies and the Australian Energy Market Operator to build, manage, maintain and operate a planned rollout of energy transmission assets.
AEMO has already produced a detailed blueprint for the work. It’s a plan that has been signed off by all governments, stacks up regardless of the energy mix, and will create up to $40 billion of economic benefits, including in lower prices for consumers.
Rewiring the Nation will create thousands of construction jobs for Australians in the regions. In addition, we’ll require projects to use Australian workers using Australian supplies.
These projects will set the foundations for revitalising traditional industries like steel and aluminium and allow new growth in emerging clean energy sectors like battery production and hydrogen energy.
Rewiring the Nation will further drive down power bills by using the Commonwealth’s ability to borrow at substantially lower interest rates, and making sure benefits are passed on to energy users here as lower prices.
The coming years will demand a sophisticated energy grid to power Australian jobs.
Providing a clear strategic plan while lowering the cost of projects ensures consumers will pay less and Australian industry has the certainty it needs to supply into these nation-building projects and deliver more jobs.
Labor is looking to the future. We understand that the rise of renewable energy is real. We seek to exploit the shift to find new opportunities for job creation.
By contrast, the Morrison government is frozen in the past as the world warms around it.
After 22 attempts over eight years, this government has no energy policy. All it has produced are higher electricity prices. Labor has vision, just as we had when last in government when we proposed the construction of a fibre-to-the-premises National Broadband Network.
The incoming Liberal government downgraded the project with a new model using 19th-century copper wire technology. Indeed, it bought 50,000 km of copper – enough to wrap around the earth.
Then, seven years later, it declared Labor was right in the first place and opted for the fibre-to-the-premises model. Fixing its mistake will cost Australians $4.5 billion – the price we all pay for this government of haste and waste.
Let’s not repeat this mistake. Let’s get our modern energy system right the first time.
Let’s seize this chance to shape a future for our nation as big as our potential.

The Australian Government is facilitating additional commercial flights from the United Kingdom, India and South Africa to help more Australians return amid the unprecedented travel disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Government has finalised an initial programme with Qantas of eight flights over coming weeks from London, New Delhi and Johannesburg.
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) officials will work with Qantas to ensure the most vulnerable Australians registered are given priority access to these flights.
We are doing everything we can to help Australians who have faced difficulty returning because of the pandemic.
The first two flights will depart London on 22 October and New Delhi on 26 October. Each flight will carry 175 passengers. As more quarantine facility space has become available with fewer domestic travellers needing to quarantine, we have been working with the Northern Territory Government so Australian passengers from overseas can undertake their 14 days’ quarantine on return at the Howard Springs facility.
This arrangement will create the capacity for more than 5,000 Australians to return over the next six months.
We thank the Northern Territory Government for its assistance in this effort.
In parallel, we are continuing to work with state and territory authorities to increase quarantine capacity through major airports, as well as for further facilitated flights. We are also continuing discussions to increase the number of airports receiving Australians from overseas.
The Government continues to assist vulnerable Australians overseas through consular assistance and through the Hardship Program. Financial assistance is available to help cover the costs of flights where other sources of finance have been exhausted.
There are more than 29,000 Australians currently registered with DFAT wishing to return to Australia.
Around 398,000 Australians have returned since 13 March. The Australian Government has helped over 29,100 Australians return, including on 64 directly facilitated flights.
More than 4,100 Australians registered with DFAT have returned since 18 September, including over a quarter who were considered vulnerable.
We continue to encourage Australians trying to return to Australia from overseas to register with DFAT through the nearest embassy or high commission or via Smartraveller.
The Government is underwriting the cost of the flights, and airfares will be available at commercial rates to passengers, with loans through DFAT available to those who need assistance.
More details on the flights are available on smartraveller.gov.au and www.qantas.com

The Australian Business Growth Fund (BGF) has been formally established, with the Shareholders Agreement now signed by all seven shareholders.
The Government also welcomes the appointment of Mr Anthony Healy as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of the BGF. Mr Healy has had a senior commercial banking career with a focus on assisting SME customers to grow and succeed. This follows the appointment of the Chairman of the BGF, Will Hodgman, former Premier of Tasmania, earlier this year.
The Morrison Government will work alongside participating banks to ensure that small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) have access to the equity finance they need as we move into the recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Government is making an investment of $100 million and partnering with other financial institutions to provide equity funding to SMEs through the BGF. The major banks including ANZ, CBA, NAB, and Westpac have also each committed $100 million to the BGF. HSBC and Macquarie have also committed $20 million each in support of the BGF.
This will give the BGF an initial investment capacity of $540 million, with the ambition to grow the fund to $1 billion as it matures. The BGF will operate commercially and make investment decisions independently of Government.
Established Australian businesses will be eligible to apply for long-term equity capital investments between $5 million and $15 million, where they have generated annual revenue between $2 million and $100 million and can demonstrate three years of revenue growth and profitability, allowing for the impact of COVID-19 on recent business performance.
Following the appointment of the CEO, it is anticipated that the BGF will shortly begin engaging with SMEs that are seeking patient equity investment in their business to enable them to grow and expand.
The Government’s investment in the BGF is part of its ongoing commitment to support SMEs as they seek to innovate, expand and create new jobs on the other side of the coronavirus crisis.
More information on the BGF’s investment guidelines can be found in Attachment A.
Attachment A
Australian Business Growth Fund – Investment Guidelines
The BGF will invest consistent with its objectives, which are to:

• Increase the availability of patient equity capital to Australian SMEs;
• Increase the level of investment in SMEs across Australia;
• Facilitate interstate and overseas trade and commerce; and
• Support job creation and economic growth in response to the current COVID downturn.

The BGF will invest in established SMEs with annual revenue between $2 million and $100 million, and a track record of three consecutive years of revenue growth and profitability. The BGF’s assessment of an SMEs track record will take into account uncharacteristic trends resulting from the COVID downturn.
The BGF’s investment will constitute a minority economic interest of typically between 10-40% of total, fully-diluted, share capital (on an ‘as-converted’ basis).
Each investment must be commercially viable and make a return appropriate to the underlying risk of the investment.
Over time, there must be an industry and regional spread of investments.