New coal-fired power station still on cards despite emissions pledge
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has left the door open for a new coal-fired power station in Queensland, despite endorsing a new climate policy.
Launching his plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 on Tuesday, Morrison was asked about a feasibility study being conducted into a proposed coal-fired plant in Collinsville.
He said the study was due to be completed in June 2022.
āAny investments that people wish to make, well they have to meet the necessary planning and other regulatory approvals for them to go ahead,ā Morrison told reporters.
āThey have to make sense to them commercially and if they stack up, they stack up.ā
He said the plant would need to meet environmental and other approvals.
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āLegal investments in this country are still legal,ā he said.
His admission came as critics of the Governmentās plan labelled it a missed opportunity.
Environment groups including Greenpeace and the Australian Conservation Foundation didnāt think enough was being done to cut emissions by 2030.
āThe cost of too little action this decade far outweighs the cost of transitioning to a low pollution economy,ā ACF chief executiveĀ Kelly OāShanassy said.
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Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce told parliament the fact the 2050 target would not be backed by legislation would be of benefit to coal communities in central Queensland and the NSW Hunter Valley.
āWe wanted to make absolutely certain there was no legislation in there that enforced things,ā he said.
āLegislation brings laws, laws are enforced by penalties, and those laws and penalties put coal workers at threat, meat workers at threat, the people in the Hunter Valley at threat, people in central Queensland at threat.ā
Energy Minister Angus Taylor said the plan would ānot shut down coal or gas productionā.
The 129-page planning document said: āAustraliaās coal and gas export industries will continue through to 2050 and beyond, supporting jobs and regional communities.ā
However, the plan said it was expected āsectors like thermal coal and natural gas ā¦will be affected by falling global demand and the shifting choices of international consumersā.
āCoal production will remain flat or decline slightly, by around six per cent (to 2030).ā
But there would be ongoing demand for Australiaās high-quality coal and gasĀ in emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific and Indo Pacific.
Climate policy veteran John Connor has flagged key omissions and a lack of detail in the Morrison governmentās mid-century emissions plan.
The Carbon Market Institute chief executive thinks the coalition missed an opportunity to build on state government and business climate commitments.
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