PM: I'm here today with Stephen Robertson, my Queensland colleague and pleased to be here at Kogan Creek Power Station. Can I thank all of our friends from CS Energy for having us here today and also the people from AREVA who are making the solar technology that I will be speaking about today.
We're here at Kogan Creek and outside we were bathed in beautiful Queensland sunshine and that's what we're here to talk about. I'm standing in a coal fired power station, but this is a coal fired power station that is about to get a solar boost. Over the next 12 months solar panels and new solar technology will be installed, so the power of this beautiful Queensland sunshine can be used to generate enough electricity for five thousand homes. That will mean that in generating that electricity more than 36,000 tonnes of carbon pollution will be avoided. Now this is the biggest project of its type in the world and I think we should be congratulating all involved on this innovation. A coal fired power station with a solar boost.
It's the biggest solar project in the southern hemisphere and we should certainly be congratulating all involved in that and this is showing us the way of the future for clean energy in this country. At the moment this project at Kogan Creek, a coal fired power station with solar energy to be harnessed to generate electricity is an exception. With the clean energy future I want for our nation I want it to become a norm and that's why we have to price carbon, to create the right incentives so that we do have that clean energy future.
I think we should be very proud that the technology that is being used here has Australian parentage and we can look at all of the benefits that this will provide to the local community as well as the clean energy it will provide for Queensland. There will be new jobs here, around 120 new jobs in construction, and the solar technology will be manufactured locally. This is an important benefit to the local community, but this is an important project for the whole of the nation, showing how solar energy can be incorporated with coal fired power stations, to make a difference for climate change and greenhouse gases, to make a difference for cutting carbon pollution.
I'm very pleased that the Commonwealth Government was able to support this project, with almost $35 million, this is a $105 million new development and we will see it coming on stream over the next 12 months. Now on the question of carbon pricing, people have of course been interested to know how the carbon pricing mechanism will work and what it will mean for them, Australian households. I've always said to Australians that when we introduce the carbon pricing, every cent that is raised by asking the biggest polluters in the country, the 1000 biggest polluters to pay for the carbon pollution that they release. Every cent raised from those big polluters will go to assisting households, protecting jobs and tackling climate change.
Today I can confirm that more than 50 per cent of the money raised will go to assisting households. That means that millions of Australian households will be better off with a carbon price, they will receive more household assistance, then the price impacts that they will see in the things that they buy. Of course the biggest price signal when we put a price on carbon is to industry, to the 1000 big polluters that will be required to pay for emitting carbon pollution and it's that price signal which will cause them to innovate and change. But I've always been very frank with the Australian people, that by asking those big polluters to pay, there will some impacts that Australians will see, which flow through to the things that they buy, which is why I am committed to providing generous assistance to Australian households, more than 50 per cent of the revenue raised from carbon pricing will be used to assist Australian households and millions of Australians will be better off receiving more in assistance than what will be required by them to deal with any price impacts.
Can I conclude by saying, today as well, we are seeing Australian businesses speak out in support of pricing carbon. Today some of our big businesses like GE, like BP, like Linfox, like IKEA, have come out publicly and said that they support pricing carbon. I thank them for indicating that support. In indicating that support they are indicating that they understand our country needs to price carbon and embrace a clean energy future. I'm very thankful to the people who have hosted us here today, so that we can see and understand more about that clean energy future. I'll now hand over to my Queensland colleague Stephen Robertson for some comments, then we'll be happy to take your questions.
ROBERTSON: Prime Minister, thank you. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Queensland Government is immensely proud to be hosting this project here are Kogan Creek. Being built in the sunshine state, being built in the smart state and putting those two descriptions of Queensland together really does encapsulate what this project is all about.
We set ourselves a target about 12 months ago here in Queensland, to create a virtual power station, that is to generate 500 megawatts of solar power. Already we are almost 80 per cent there , with nearly 400 megawatts of energy being generated by solar panels, solar hot water, but also in projects such as this, which are scattered throughout Queensland.
Our target was initially to reach 500 megawatts in 5 years, we'll actually reach it by the end of this year and that just speaks volumes about how important solar is to our clean energy future here in Queensland. The fact that we can partner with the Federal Government to put together a package to bring forward a project of this scale, here in Queensland, is also an important sign for the rest of the country and indeed the rest of the world, that in moving to a cleaner energy future, solar is an important part of that. This is just one of a number of projects the Queensland Government is rolling out at a large scale, solar farms in Cloncurry and Harvey Bay, the University of Queensland solar array - these are all large scale solar projects that point to a much cleaner energy future for Queensland.
PM: Thank you very much, happy to take any questions.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
PM: I've been asked this question as recently as last week actually when I also had an opportunity to travel on the Warrego Highway. We have made some investments into the Warrego Highway, around $85 million to make a difference, and I understand that there's now some flood damage that needs to be addressed on the highway and that will be done through the work that we will do with the Queensland Government under our Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements. So I'm pleased we've been able to make a difference.
For the future of course, for big infrastructure projects, we do work with our Queensland state colleagues and we also have an independent process involving Infrastructure Australia to assess the merits of infrastructure proposals right around the country, as you imagine there are many communities that want to see upgrades in roads and that's understandable, which is one reason that we do have experts work with us to create a priority order on infrastructure.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister (inaudible) what happened with that (inaudible)
PM: Look I did have to opportunity to meet with Ian Macfarlane yesterday and I thank him for coming to talk to me about the Toowoomba situation, I'm familiar with it, I've been to Toowoomba three times this year. Ian Macfarlane has been a long time advocate of upgrading the road and creating the bypass. Indeed when he was in the former Howard Government he said he wanted to see it done by 2005, but despite him being a Minister in the Howard Government and his advocacy under the Howard Government, that didn't happen. That means that now we do have to work to assess this project under Infrastructure Australia, I indicated to Ian Macfarlane yesterday that I was very happy to work with him, to work with the local Council and local community to have them present their case direct to Infrastructure Australia and I believe that Mr Macfarlane will take that opportunity up.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister the carbon tax compensation package (inaudible) today, does this mean there'll be less compensation for industry?
PM: Well I want to be very clear on what I'm saying today. We've been saying to Australians, I've been saying to Australians, that every dollar we raise from pricing carbon paid by our 1000 biggest polluters will go to households, to protecting jobs, to tackling climate change. Today I am going further and I can guarantee that more than 50% of the amount of revenue raised will go to assisting households. That means millions of Australian households will be better off with a carbon price. We will also work with industry to protect Australian jobs. We understand businesses will have to work differently, they'll need to innovate and change and we will work with them in this process. But standing here, having seen what we've seen today and talked about the solar project for the future, it certainly reaffirms my great optimism and confidence that we are up to this, that Australian business is very innovative, very creative, Australian people are very smart, very adaptable and we will be able to tackle this change just as we've tackled big economic changes and challenges in the past.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
PM: We are working on the full range of details of the carbon price package, I've announced the mechanism, I thought that was appropriate so Australians could see it, could debate it, could discuss it, could ask questions about it and we could consult Australian businesses, trade unions, the Australian community, the environmental movement about the details of the design.
We're in that process now and we will make further announcements in the middle of the year about the details of the design with a view to then legislating in the Parliament and we will have the carbon price come into effect on the 1st of July next year.
JOURNALIST: (inaudible) beat Tony Abbott in the war of words over the carbon tax?
PM: Ultimately this is about Australia's future and your policies and plans. I'm standing here saying to Australians that I want to price carbon and I want to generously assist Australian households as we do it and millions of households will be better off. Tony Abbott is saying to the Australian people that he's got an idea that won't work, and that will cost Australians $720 per year. Now the Australian community will think that through, but we want to assist households, we want to provide money to them to help them through, Tony Abbott wants to take $720 a year off them for a plan that won't work.
JOURNALIST: Just on today's announcement as well, how can you basically tell us what we're going to get back in our households without knowing what the actual price (inaudible)
PM: Well what I'm announcing and being very clear about today is the design principles we are using as we work through all of the details of pricing carbon. So as we go through that process we will deliver to the principles that I am announcing today, more than 50 per cent of the revenue will go to assist households and millions of Australian households will be better off with a carbon price.
JOURNALIST: How will that (inaudible)
PM: How?
JOURNALIST: Yeah, what way.
PM: Well we will announce all of those details but clearly we can provide assistance to Australian households through our tax and transfer system.
JOURNALIST: Obviously the point of the carbon tax is to reduce carbon, is the compensation going to eat into things such as money for renewables?
PM: No, we've got some big programs to assist with renewable technology and those programs are rolling out right now. I wouldn't be standing here today if we weren't putting record investments into solar and renewable technology and amongst our record investment is the almost $35 million which is being devoted to this project to have solar power generation here working with a coal fired power station. So we will continue to invest in solar and renewable technologies. We need to price carbon so that we are sending a price signal to the 1000 companies and businesses which are the biggest polluters in our nation. At the moment they are able to put carbon pollution in the atmosphere for nothing; we will put a price on it and then being businesspeople, they will work out how do we reduce that cost to our business by innovating and creating less carbon pollution.
JOURNALIST: Is there (inaudible) in funding a project like this given it is the first of its kind (inaudible)
PM: Well we've had extensive and indeed independent processes to assess this project to make sure that it's a project of merit and value, and all of that's been done before we made the funding commitment. Can I say having been here today and having had the opportunity to talk to people from CS Energy and from AREVA, I'm very confident that this project is going to be a standout, a standout in Australia, a standout in the world about how power generation can be changed to give us a cleaner energy future.
JOURNALIST: Do you see the irony (inaudible) coal power plant possibly one of the (inaudible) of the carbon tax?
PM: What I think that's saying to you, that's a very important point and a good question, what that's saying to you is the there's not one technology or one way that is going to meet our clean energy needs of the future. Here we are, coal fired power station, going to be generating more electricity by integrating the power of solar energy and the amount of carbon pollution avoided is the equivalent of taking 11,000 off the road. It really is showing us how the future can work for Australia, certainly we've got coal resources and we want to have a future for using coal in a cleaner and different way and this is demonstrating to us what a part of that future could look like.
Thank you.