Crisafulli sending Queensland decades into the past risks our future

The Queensland Conservation Council has slammed the Crisafulli Government for celebrating taking Queensland back to the 1970s instead of investing in industries of the future, with new gas exploration licences granted in the Taroom Trough.

Queensland Conservation Council Energy Strategist Clare Silcock says

Queensland has huge opportunities to build new future proofed industries that will allow regions to prosper for decades to come, with green manufacturing powered by renewable energy backed by storage.

However, the Queensland Government has decided to repeal renewable energy targets and withdraw support for new industries such as hydrogen in Gladstone. Instead, they are celebrating trying to take Queensland back into the 1970s by clinging to industries of the past, such as oil production.

While this rhetoric of a revitalised oil production industry might be a dream of a non-existent past glory, because it doesn’t stack up economically, the reality of this announcement is that the Queensland Government is bending over backwards for the fossil fuel industry.

We don’t need more gas, we need to rein the gas companies in to stop them exporting our gas instead of supplying Queensland families and businesses. The Crisafulli Government has committed to a 75% emissions reduction target. There is no credible path to this, or even net zero, that includes new gas projects.

The Crisafulli Government’s energy policy is clearly driven by an ideology to support coal, gas and now oil which will hurt Queensland communities and drive up power bills. We need to see well planned new renewable energy backed by storage to keep Queensland’s electricity affordable and reliable into the future.

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