Joe Ludwig voted moderately against a fast transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

(i) how well positioned Australia is to take advantage of the huge jobs and commercial opportunities from investing in research and development in clean energy technologies,

(ii) That the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is the institution that will enable us to be global leaders in clean technology innovation, and

(iii) That the 2014 Budget proposed $1.3 billion in cuts to ARENA for the financial years 2017-18 to 2021-22 which have so far been blocked but which have caused considerable uncertainty for ARENA; and

(b) resolves That the $1.5 billion of currently legislated funding for ARENA for the financial years 2016-17 to 2021-22 will not be reduced.

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

(i) the unprecedented coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef which the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority describes as the worst ever mass bleaching event,

(ii) the devastating bushfires affecting areas of Tasmania's Wilderness World Heritage Area which have not been burned in centuries and which may never recover,

(iii) the fact that 2014 and 2015 were both the hottest year on record, and that the United Kingdom Meteorological Office predicts that 2016 will also be the hottest year on record,

(iv) that ordinary Australians are leading the way in calling for action on global warming, in particular, the students at the University of Queensland who have occupied the Chancellery Building calling on the University to divest from fossil fuels, and

(v) that fossil fuel companies have made $3.7 million in political donations to the Coalition and the Australian Labor Party since the 2013 election; and

(b) calls on all political parties to:

(i) support a legislative ban on fossil fuel donations, and

(ii) refuse to accept any more fossil fuel donations.

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) China's twelfth 5 year plan is expected to introduce caps on coal use from 2015,

(ii) the price of coking coal has already dropped some 40 per cent in the past year, due in large part to a drop in China's demand for imported coal,

(iii) China expects utility scale solar power to out-compete new coal-fired power stations by the end of the decade, while the Indian Government expects the cost crossover as soon as 2016,

(iv) India's economic giant, Tata Power, has publicly stated that its new investments will favour renewable energy, as coal power is becoming 'impossible' to develop,

(v) the Australian Bureau of Resource and Energy Economics (BREE) continues to predict that coal exports will double over the next two decades, and

(vi) Australia is leaving itself economically exposed by focusing on the development of coal export infrastructure; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

(i) require BREE to review its modelling based on the current geopolitics of coal, and

(ii) rethink Australia's economic settings, which assume ongoing increases in the coal export market, and instead look to broaden Australia's economic base and build a more competitive clean energy economy.

That the Senate:

(a) notes that a statement from a group of the world’s largest investors, representing US$15 trillion:

(i) calls for domestic and international policies to ‘unlock the vast benefits of low-carbon markets and avoid economic devastation caused by climate change’,

(ii) cites potentially 20 per cent losses to gross domestic product by 2050 if climate change goes unabated,

(iii) notes the benefits of both a carbon price and regulation in driving investment into renewable energy and other clean technologies, and

(iv) calls for emissions targets, strong and sustained price signals, energy and transportation policies, the phase out of fossil fuel subsidies, adaptation measures and corporate disclosure of climate risk to be implemented;

(b) applauds the moves by elements of Australian business to embrace the opportunities provided by ambitious climate action; and

(c) calls on the Government to consider the increasing benefits of swiftly transforming the economy for low to zero emissions.

That the Senate:

(a) notes the statements by Clean-Up Australia Day founder, Mr Ian Kiernan, regarding the ‘absolutely frightening’ contribution of Australia’s coal exports to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change; and

(b) calls on the Government to work with state governments to reduce coal exports and provide a just transition for workers in the coal industry.

That the Senate supports the following resolution of Newcastle City Council:

Newcastle City Council recognises the urgent need to protect local and global environments from increasing greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce Newcastle’s role in that increase.

Therefore Newcastle City Council:

1. Recommends that the NSW Government establishes a cap on coal exports from Newcastle at existing levels.

2. Recommends that the NSW Government initiates an independent Inquiry into the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the current coal industry and proposed expansion of the Hunter Valley coal industry.

3. Recommends that pending such an Inquiry, the NSW Government initiates a moratorium on new coal mine approvals at Anvil Hill and elsewhere in NSW.

4. Calls on the NSW and Federal Governments to establish a mandatory renewable energy target of 25% by 2020, with 20% by 2014 as a first step, in keeping with targets set by the South Australian Government.

5. Calls on the NSW Government to establish a contribution of 10c/tonne on coal exports through the Port of Newcastle to fund a community trust to be administered through Hunter Councils, to support a transition to a clean energy economy in the Hunter and to invest in local renewable energy projects.

6. Calls on the NSW Government to build a more efficient public transport system in the Hunter, linking major regional cities defined in the Lower Hunter Regional Strategy.