‘Budget dollars are eye-catching but facilitation is vital … Future Made in Australia depends on deploying vast amounts of renewable energy at competitive cost.’‘Budget dollars are eye-catching but facilitation is vital … Future Made in Australia depends on deploying vast amounts of renewable energy at competitive cost.’Business groups such as ours, alongside investors, unions and climate campaigners, have been calling out for a big push on clean economy investment.
A production tax credit of 10% of processing and refining costs is intended to narrow cost gaps. This may be enough to get some significant projects over the line – though it’ll be a different story for each mineral.– the components that make a net zero economy work. The government has prioritised the solar supply chain on economic security grounds, with $1bn in production credits; and segments of the battery supply chain .
Does this make sense? Global battery demand is surging, but manufacturing capacity has surged far faster. We may well find profitable niches but will need to be astute. Meanwhile solar manufacturing has chewed up and spat out many global contenders. This is not a simple story.. Alumina, aluminium, iron and steel will remain vital to a net zero world and need to be made cleanly using clean energy, green hydrogen and other technologies.
Overall the Future Made in Australia policy has decent priorities, a strong analytical basis and enough money to move the needle. What matters now is quality of implementation, maintenance of discipline in future decisions, and readiness to adjust course in light of successes and failures. Finally, this budget was almost silent on energy upgrades to help households and business save costs, cut emissions and shore up the grid. The pressure to address this in future budgets will surely grow as short-term bill relief payments end.