BRIDGET ARCHER MP, MEMBER FOR BASS: It’s terrific to be here right in the heart of Launceston today. Launceston has got a very proud history when it comes to energy generation and I’m delighted to be joined here today by my mate Gavin Pearce, the Member for Braddon. Also Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Premier Peter Gutwein, Minister Angus Taylor and Minister Guy Barnett. It’s very fitting that we’re here in Launceston. As I said, we’ve got a very proud history of energy generation here in Launceston and it’s a great place to be talking about the future of energy here in Tasmania. Clean, green energy and lots of jobs.

 

THE HON. PETER GUTWEIN MP, PREMIER OF TASMANIA: Bridget, thank you for that warm introduction and it’s a pleasure to have the Prime Minister with us again for the second time in a couple of months and it’s been a fantastic opportunity over the last nine months to work with the Prime Minister. I must say, on one hand, I think I’ve spent more time on Webex with Scott than I have with my own children. But it’s been a lot of work over the period but it’s fantastic to see him here today. Look, Bridget just touched on the fact that Launceston has a proud history in terms of hydro generation. I think it is worthwhile making the point that here in Launceston at Duck Reach, that was the first hydro generator in the country when it was first developed and importantly Launceston was the first city in Australia to actually have electric power in terms of its streetlights. And so that was the start of the journey that we’re on. Today is another significant step in that journey. Over the last more than 100 years, what we’ve developed in Tasmania is a renewable energy system that is the envy of the country. Already we produce around 25 percent of the nation’s renewable energy and the next steps that we’re taking in terms of Marinus and Battery of the Nation will enable us to turn Tasmania into the renewable energy powerhouse of this country. The agreement that we will be signing today formalises the partnership between the state and federal government as we take forward Marinus. Importantly, with Marinus we’re working the design and approval stage and working towards having a bankable project by 2023-24. And importantly, already the feasibility work that has been undertaken indicates that this project is technically feasible and economically viable. So this next step of formalising our partnership is an important step. From the point of view of the state, the next step as I have said in turning Tasmania into the renewable energy powerhouse of this country. There will be thousands of jobs created as a result of this project and the underlying Battery of the Nation opportunity that comes with it. And importantly, with those jobs will come greater economic prosperity for Tasmania, built off the back of, as I have said, more than 100 years of work to get us to this point now, where we generate 25 percent of the country’s renewable energy. This will take us to a point where Tasmania will stand alone in the country in terms of our renewables. With that, I will hand over to the Prime Minister to provide the detail.

 

PRIME MINISTER: Well, thank you, Peter, thank you, Premier. It is great to be here with my colleagues. Of course, Bridget and Gav, but also to have Angus and Guy here with me who have really been doing the heavy legwork when it comes to the agreement that the Premier and I are going to be signing today. To Ange and to Ian and to all the team here at Hydro, it is great to be here with you and see the amazing work that you’ve been doing in Launceston for a very long time, since the mid-1950s. And it just goes to show that if you’ve got a good idea, it sustains and it really carries and that’s what we’re seeing here with the hydro industry here in Tasmania.

 

Our Government is working with state and territory governments to get electricity prices down, to ensure we’ve got reliable energy that can support our industries right across the country to create jobs and how we do that, both within the sector and outside the sector and to get our emissions down. That’s why we’re working with the states and territories. We’ve already signed an agreement with the New South Wales Government and today we’re signing a similar agreement here with the Tasmanian Government. A deal which is about getting electricity prices down, creating jobs and getting our emissions down. That's exactly what we're achieving here. What we're achieving in this agreement is we go to the next phase of the Battery of the Nation and Marinus Link project. The Commonwealth is increasing our investment up to $150 million to get us through the design and approval phase. In the agreement today, we established the Special Purpose Vehicle who will carry the project forward. Of course, there are more hurdles to clear into the future. But as the Premier just said, the technical and economic feasibility is very, very sound. That gives us great confidence, Minister Taylor and I, to go to the next step, to make the further investment. Here in Tasmania, you will be an exporter of clean, reliable energy to the mainland, to the rest of Australia. You will be exporting the sort of energy that the rest of Australia needs. Already there's some 400 megawatts, which sits idle. We want to connect that up to the rest of the economy. We want to connect that up to the rest of Australia. This is really important to ensure Australia emerges from the COVID-19 recession and that we charge up our businesses, not just here in Tasmania, and particularly here in the north of Tasmania, where the bulk of the jobs will be. Some 2,800 jobs in just the Marinus Link project alone, with further jobs coming in the form of Battery of the Nation.

 

This is a very exciting project and it's the sort of project which says ambition is great, but I tell you what, action is better. I mean, what we're doing here is reducing emissions. What we are doing here is generating energy in a renewable way that is reliable and can power jobs and that's why we're so excited about this agreement. And so we're looking forward to taking the next step and the partnership I have with Premier Gutwein builds on that, that we had previously with Premier Hodgman. I'm sure both Peter and I will join in praising the future vision, supported of course by Guy Barnett, and all of the Tasmanian team that understood the great power of this idea. It's becoming a reality now. I mean, this project will be contributing to Australia achieving and beating our 2030 emissions reduction targets, without even having to draw on our carbon credits, which Australia rightfully earned through our overachievement of the Kyoto commitments that we had. So, this is a key part of our plan. Along with Snowy Hydro, up on the mainland, these projects, this is how you reduce emissions. This is how you actually get it done. When you are focused on doing these things, the achievements then follow, and so we're going to keep focused on the practical on this. We're going to keep focused on investing in the jobs and the lower power prices. I want to thank again Premier Gutwein for partnering with us on this. Look forward to coming to similar agreements with other states and territories in due course. But this is how we're getting it done, Australia, and I really am so proud of what Tasmania is achieving here. I am really thrilled to Gav and to Bridget about the jobs that are going to be created here. Because we're also investing in the training here in northern Tasmania to ensure that people from northern Tasmania can be a part of this special project. Some years ago, when I was here, last year, in fact, with Gav and we were up in Ulverston and we were making announcements about the training that we were putting in locally to ensure that people could be trained to do the jobs here. So Ange, there will be plenty more for you to employ into the future as we go forward with these projects.

 

It is a very exciting day for Tasmania. The power is on. I will hand it over to Angus.

 

THE HON. ANGUS TAYLOR MP, MINISTER FOR ENERGY AND EMISSIONS REDUCTION: Thank, PM. It is great to be here with my federal colleagues, but also by state colleagues, who have been fantastic partners in working on this project together. Guy and Peter are passionate about hydro and the potential of hydro, as of course are Gavin, Bridget and the Prime Minister as you have just heard. Of course, our great challenge as a country is to bring down, contain, energy prices and at the same time bring down emissions. That's exactly what this project is doing. We're seeing a really dramatic investment right now across Australia in solar and wind. $9 billion last year. We expect from the Clean Energy Regulator, what they are telling us, is we will see a similar $9 billion this year. Over 6 gigawatts of new solar and wind going into our grid. Emissions falling in the national electricity market 5 percent in the last 12 months alone and that's in keeping with dramatic reductions we're seeing in emissions right now. The challenge of that is to make sure we have firm, reliable power and we contain prices when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine. That's exactly what hydro projects can do for us and it is why we're so excited about projects like Battery of the Nation, Marinus and, of course, the Snowy project on the mainland.

 

When the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine, you need a solution and Tasmania has part of that solution which is very exciting for all of us here. Now, the $150 million we have invested in total in this project will get us to financial investment decision in the coming months, then we want to get on and build this project, because it really is needed. As the Prime Minister said, it's about practical action that contains energy prices and brings down emissions at the same time. A balance in our system between the dispatchable power that hydro delivers and the intermittent power from fresh solar and wind. That balance is what will serve us well to get the practical outcomes we want to in the coming years. Our focus is on technology, not taxes. Hydro is an old technology but it is being used in new ways. We are seeing dramatic improvements in efficiency in hydro, 10 percent improvement in the upgrade going on here. But hydro has also come of age in the way it can balance and store energy. That makes it a technology that's time has come. It's been around for a long time, but it's particularly important in our energy system now. These hydro projects create big batteries with dispatchable energy that can balance and ensure that we have the reliability and affordability all Australians need in our electricity grid.

 

THE HON. GUY BARNETT, TASMANIAN MINISTER FOR ENERGY: Thank you, Angus and to Prime Minister Scott Morrison for being here. It's so good to have a positive working relationship with Premier Gutwein and our federal colleagues. Strong, strong support from Gavin Pearce and Bridget Archer. It’s absolutely fantastic and to have that recognised today with the signing of the MOU to identify Marinus Link and Battery of the Nation to proceed to the next level, it is so exciting. Tasmania is the renewable energy powerhouse of Australia. We have just reached 100 per cent fully self-sufficient in renewable energy, just announced a few weeks ago. We are so pleased and so proud of that. The only state in Australia to achieve that accomplishment and one of the few jurisdictions in the world. We have now just recently legislated our Renewable Energy Target to be 200 per cent by 2040. This is remarkable. We're leading the way. Tasmania has the trifecta - affordable, reliable, and clean electricity and we have what the rest of Australia needs and wants. We have what the rest of the world needs and wants, and Tasmania has natural assets with our world-class water resource, our world-class wind resource and we're delivering. We're delivering jobs on the ground here in Tasmania, as has been outlined by the Prime Minister and Premier Gutwein. This is all about jobs on the ground. Billions of investment, improved energy security, and downward pressure on electricity prices.

 

In terms of the announcement today around Battery of the Nation, the Lake Cethana has been identified as the preferred site for work to progress. So congratulations to Hydro Tasmania for the work they’ve undertaken to identify out of Lake Rowallan Power Station and Lake Cethana. Lake Cethana is it. I spoke to the mayor, Tim Wilson, this morning. He is absolutely delighted. In terms of the MOU, it also includes and identifies Tarraleah for a major redevelopment. We're talking a $650 million development with jobs on the ground, hundreds of jobs during construction, a lot of civil construction work down through in the Derwent Valley in the southern part of Tasmania. This is part of the Battery of the Nation. So it's been identified, further work will be required subject to finance and further discussions with between the federal and state government here in Tasmania. So here we are at Trevallyn. This is part of our Battery of the Nation. You can see the improvements. We are increasing efficiencies and offering opportunities for more affordable, reliable, clean electricity. We're delivering in spades in Tasmania, and I say thank you to the Australian government for the commitment to this going forward. It's a very exciting day. A watershed event. I'm absolutely delighted on behalf of all Tasmanians to say we have the credentials to be the renewable energy powerhouse of Australia and to, indeed, lead the globe.

 

PRIME MINISTER: Happy to take questions. But can I also congratulate you, Guy, on the great work you did to have Teddy Sheean recognised with the VC, which we were able to have invested just recently. I was in isolation at the time but was able to contribute remotely. But to you particularly, Guy, fantastically supported by the Premier and so many Tasmanians. And here Gav and, of course, Bridget, for the tremendous work you’ve done to making sure we work through that process well. It was a great outcome for Australia, it was a great outcome for Tasmania. A particularly good outcome for northern Tasmania, so that was tremendous. Happy to take some questions.

 

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister what does this deal mean for who will own and operate the finished interconnector?

 

PRIME MINISTER: We are setting up the SPV to deal with that in an interim way. But ultimately, this is a commercial project. This is a project that has a customer base, that is commercially viable, it has income streams that will support itself, ultimately. What we're doing here as a state government and a federal government is we're getting this thing moving. Now, the Commonwealth Government has been doing this in a number of different ways. The ultimate ownership structure varies, depends on the project, and how it ultimately plays out. In Snowy Hydro, for example, well, the Commonwealth now completely owns that project. With Western Sydney Airport, a big infrastructure project, we currently own all of it, but that’s isn't our intention long-term. So the ownership structure, I think, becomes clearer as time goes on. But what is important is that the project happens. The state government and federal government are very keen to ensure that this project happens and those issues, and the Premier may want to comment on this as well, from their perspective, but what we want to see happen is the project happen. And ultimately, down the track, this will be a project, this will be a business that will stand on its own two feet. Peter, did you want to add anything?

 

JOURNALIST: So who’s going to pay for the whole interconnector?

 

PRIME MINISTER: This will be a combination of investments, no doubt. But ultimately a business supports itself based on its customers. That's how it works. And the great compelling idea of Marinus and of also, of course, Battery of the Nation is it's generating lower cost electricity which is reliable and dispatchable. That's something that people need and want. That will support the investment from whichever sector it comes from. We're setting up a special purpose vehicle, that means we expect this to wash its face and the investments that are made from Commonwealth and state entities are supported by the revenues that will come from this business operating as a business, but those revenues will be based on lower-cost electricity. So there are winners everywhere here.

 

JOURNALIST: How much do you expect Tasmanian taxpayers will pay for this given it’s exporting the power out when we don’t actually need it here in Tasmania?

 

PRIME MINISTER: There is a great benefit, and the Premier and Minister may wish to comment on this. I am talking about a business that actually earns, so this is something that is not only going to create jobs, but this is something that is actually going to support itself. That is the whole point, which means that the Tasmanian public are double beneficiaries. They will be shareholders as they already are through hydro, in a successful business, but one that is actually producing lower power prices and jobs. So I would say they will benefit greatly, but I will let Peter speak to that as well.

 

THE HON. PETER GUTWEIN MP, PREMIER OF TASMANIA: Very happy to deal with that. This is a fantastic opportunity for Tasmania. Already, we generate 100 per cent of our renewable needs. In fact, our overall needs for electricity. The Battery of the Nation provides us with the opportunity to increase that opportunity to generate. Importantly, the rest of the country from the point of view of both needing dispatchable power, but also in terms of reducing emissions, wants our green energy and the rest of the country will pay for this as an export out of Tasmania. That is the bottom line. This will provide, importantly, ongoing economic security for the state and, importantly, thousands of jobs as well.

 

JOURNALIST: How much will Victoria pay for this, then?

 

THE HON. PETER GUTWEIN MP, PREMIER OF TASMANIA: At the end of the day, what we are working through at the moment is to get to a financial investment decision and, in terms of the project, as I have said, as it stands at the moment, it is technically feasible. Importantly, it is economically viable. But our energy is needed by the rest of the country. Green energy is needed by the rest of the country. No one else can do what we are currently doing in terms of the network of bands we have, the network of catchments. So we are in a prime position to export clean, green energy to the rest of the country. And at the end of the day, customers will purchase that.

 

JOURNALIST: If we are the only state that can do this, why should we be the ones paying for it?

 

THE HON. PETER GUTWEIN MP, PREMIER OF TASMANIA: At the end of the day I think you are having a little overreach there. What the Prime Minister has said is that what we have set up at the moment is a special purpose vehicle which will take us to the financial investment decision. This is the next step in terms of the proving of this project as a bankable project. Once it becomes a bankable project, there will be a range of options to consider in terms of who finances it and who ultimately owns it. It could be owned privately, it could be owned by the Commonwealth Government in partnership with the State Government. Those matters will be worked through as we prove up this project.

 

JOURNALIST: So you want it to be bankable within the next four years, when will construction officially start?

 

THE HON. PETER GUTWEIN MP, PREMIER OF TASMANIA: As soon after that as we can take the first step.

Media contact:

Minister Taylor's office: 02 6277 7120