Green energy industry policy

Our first straw in the wind comes from the Federal Treasurer’s keynote address to the Economic and Social Outlook Conference in Melbourne

The Treasurer shared his thinking on the energy and net zero transformation within our economy. Two points of particular note were his ambitions to:

• recast and modernise our industry policy framework so we can maximise our advantages and leverage our strengths in a new age of net zero; and

• see the Productivity Commission, under Danielle Wood’s leadership play a bigger, more constructive role in organising the Government’s thinking when it comes to climate and energy policy.

The priority areas that the Treasurer considers ‘active’ industry policy is best directed are:

• refining and processing critical minerals, to move up the global supply chain and capture more of the value add;

• supporting manufacturing of generation and storage technologies, including batteries;

• using low-cost renewable energy to produce renewable hydrogen and its derivatives like ammonia; and

• leveraging our abundance in iron ore and bauxite to become a leading producer of green iron, steel and alumina.

Does this herald a return to governments trying to pick winners, or is it about leveraging Australia’s comparative advantages?

Either way, the opportunities it presents for businesses involved in these activities are significant.