From the start I wanted to show that my government could be pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-mining and pro-business as well as pro-environment and sustainability. I wanted to prove that these policy goals weren’t mutually exclusive. So I was pleased that during the past 10 years South Australia’s economy has been transformed, with rapid diversification through a big expansion in mining and defence industries and record infrastructure developments.
We enjoyed the strongest ever employment growth and recorded Australia’s lowest unemployment in the midst of the GFC. We also recorded a 15 per cent cut in emissions during the past five years. We were aggressive in our approach to securing private sector investment in renewables, substantially assisted by making our regulatory environment for wind farm and ‘hot rocks’ geothermal developments friendlier and more streamlined for business.
We started government with no operating wind turbines in SA. We now have 54 per cent of the nation’s installed wind power even though we have only 7.2 per cent of Australia’s population. Today 26 per cent of SA electricity comes from wind, ahead of coal-fired power generation. In other states the wind was as strong, but not the political will. SA also leads in domestic solar take up. We entered into voluntary sector agreements to reduce emissions with a variety of industries and organisations. So, what we demonstrated in SA was not just a commitment to renewable energy, but also a commitment to economic growth.
What were your challenges as Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change?
My biggest challenge was to convince people that a small state could be a national and international leader if it was prepared to take the step up. It was important to explain to South Australians that our commitment to renewable energy was a key pillar of our economic strategy, particularly for regional areas. So, we had to ‘sell’ the vision, identify opportunities and then have the confidence to seize them. I thought it was also important to personally take on the portfolio of Sustainability and Climate Change as well as Economic Development to show we were serious, to get things done and have some runs on the board early. I am a great believer in first-mover advantage. It was also important to demonstrate that our policy push in this area was pro- not anti-business.
A difficult challenge was securing economic growth while implementing sustainability. It is not an either/or proposition – and we proved that. Our approach helped secure billions of dollars of investment in the State.
Explain your role in The Climate Group.
The Climate Group is a non-partisan NGO that acts worldwide as a bridge between business and governments on climate change issues and policies. It promotes a quicker and bigger scaling up of clean technologies and infrastructure as well as changes in design and behaviour to boost energy efficiency and achieve a more sustainable use of our natural resources. It works with business in promoting the deployment of the latest green technologies to create new jobs.
I became involved when I was Premier through The Climate Group’s States and Regions network, where the leaders of sub-national governments share “ideas that work”. I’ve worked closely on strategies and policies with leaders such as the Premier of Quebec, Jean Charest; the former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger and others. Tony Blair chairs the International Leadership Council, mainly comprised of major global business leaders, and earlier this year he invited me to join the Council. I chaired sessions at the Rio summit. I will also be involved in Climate Week in New York in September.
What’s the purpose of Low Carbon Australia?
Low Carbon Australia (LCA) was established by the Australian Government in 2010 with initial funding of $100 million under the inaugural chairmanship of former Howard Government Minister, the Hon Robert Hill, with a strong board drawn from the highest levels of Australian business. It was set up to assist businesses to save money by becoming more energy efficient.
Instead of handing out grants, LCA works with financial institutions to leverage private funds and provide flexible finance to eligible businesses for the upgrading of commercial buildings, industrial premises and plant and implementation of distributed generation. Our specialist team has expertise in energy efficiency and low carbon technologies, finance and legal structures, and is able to promote innovation by de-risking new financial products and economically sound carbon abatement projects. Proven abatement technology and commercially available equipment is funded and repayments are matched to monies recouped through energy and efficiency savings.
When it comes to energy efficiency, we are talking about better refrigeration and air conditioning, more efficient industrial pumps and boilers. More often than not this involves retrofits and newer, better technologies for companies that know it makes sense in terms of their profitability to embrace projects that realise substantial energy as well as maintenance cost savings.
Low Carbon Australia also runs Australia’s Carbon Neutral Program. The official government standard administered by LCA helps consumers reliably identify carbon neutral products and services.
Is the business community sufficiently well informed about sustainability?
Energy is a big cost factor for many businesses and smart business leaders know it makes sense financially to embrace energy efficiencies. Many also want to do the right thing by the environment. Sustainability is now part of the mission statement of many companies.
At a minimum, CEOs need to be asking if their organisation has the right professional advice on sustainability and ensuring that all options available to help improve the bottom line have been sourced. It makes good sense to take stock of energy use now, undertake an audit and investigate ways of reducing energy use. But it is always best to back a horse called ‘self-interest’. It makes sense for the bottom line as well as our environment to embrace a lower carbon economy.
