Ted Baillieu and the Minister for Energy, Michael O’Brien, have been exposed as hypocrites for failing to take their own advice on renewable energy.
While the government’s GreenPower website is telling Victorians that by buying electricity from renewable sources they “will help grow the renewable energy sector”, Ted Baillieu and Michael O’Brien have dumped the whole-of-government purchase agreement and haven’t bothered to tell anyone until they couldn’t hide it any longer.
Annual reports released last week reveal that the government cancelled the purchase agreement with GreenPower that would have required government departments and agencies to source at least 20 per cent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
It has only now come to light that the government dumped the purchase agreement from July 1, 2011. They made no announcement in last year’s budget, leaving Victorians to learn about it in the pages of departmental and agency annual reports that are only now starting to be tabled in parliament.
The Premier’s own department purchased no power from renewable sources in the last financial year, down from 19 per cent the previous year.
There are currently 26 solar, wind, biomass and hydro power generation businesses in Victoria that are supported by this government program, providing clean energy and jobs.
The decision reveals that from the first budget opportunity, the Baillieu government has been intent on undermining Victoria’s renewable energy industry.
Ted Baillieu and Michael O’Brien have no credibility when it comes to renewable energy and the investment and jobs that it offers Victoria. They’ve dumped Victoria’s 20 per cent renewable energy target, the five per cent solar target, slashed feed-in tariffs, failed to fund the Mallee solar park project and scuttled new wind energy projects with extreme planning laws.
In releasing their renewable energy action plan last week, the NSW government gave notice that they would be active in attracting a large proportion of $36 billion worth of renewable energy investment and jobs estimated to be spent in Australia by 2020, and grow more than 6000 new jobs long term.
Whereas Victorians continue to lose investment and jobs because Ted Baillieu fails to show any leadership and has no renewable energy plan for Victoria.
Lily D’Ambrosio, MP, Opposition spokeswoman for Energy