Manufacturing Australia urges open-minded energy debate

News | 15 December 2024

Australians deserve a rational and open-minded energy policy debate that considers all options – including nuclear – to restore the nation’s energy competitiveness.

We should be capable of considering what role nuclear energy could play over the medium to long term, while at the same time agreeing that Australia needs to continue installing currently available technologies – renewables, hydro, gas and batteries – to displace coal-fired generation.

Over the past two decades, regardless of which political party held office and despite an abundance of both renewable and non-renewable energy resources, Australia has lost its competitive advantage of low-cost energy.

Australia’s energy system – once characterised by low costs and stability, but relatively high carbon emissions, is now one characterised by high costs and eroding reliability, increasingly unable to support investment by energy-intensive industries.

We can’t and shouldn’t turn back the clock, but Australians deserve a better national energy debate: one that doesn’t rule technologies in or out for ideological reasons, nor one that stalls momentum on necessary investment in new energy capacity.

In manufacturing, when we look globally, we see most developed manufacturing economies benefiting from two characteristics that Australia’s energy system is lacking.

The first is a diverse mix of energy sources, often including nuclear energy.

The second is customer-centricity, where the needs of customers – particularly security of supply and globally competitive prices – are at the very centre of system design.

If Australia is to regain its energy competitiveness for future generations, taking full advantage of our diverse energy mix, and putting customers first, should be the priorities of a more mature national energy debate.

Contact: Ben Eade, 02 6198 3285