Greens MP Michael Berkman has accused the Labor State Government of misleading energy workers, environmental organisations and Queensland taxpayers with its renewable energy announcement last week.
“It’s great to see the Government finally putting some extra money towards renewables, but their numbers are phony.
“They touted $2B to everyone last week, but only $1B is actually committed before the next election, and only half of that is new money.*
“If it’s an extra $500M, just say that, instead of pretending you’re anywhere near meeting the demands from the sector.
“Even this commitment is completely undermined by their ongoing support for coal and gas - you can pile renewables on top of fossil fuels to meet your targets, but it doesn’t mean emissions go down.”
Callide C
“If the Government spends hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars rebuilding an exploded coal power station instead of funding a workers’ transition package and a big battery, they’ll lose any of the credibility they gained with this announcement.”
* See Budget Paper 2, p. 126 & p. 147