Queensland Conservation Council has called on Energy Minister Mick de Brenni to take a bold plan to build storage and commit to renewable energy long term to the first Energy Ministers meeting under new Federal Climate and Energy Minister, Chris Bowen tomorrow.

“We know that big batteries would save Queenslanders money. Our analysis found that two 100 megawatt, two hour batteries would have reduced wholesale electricity prices by over $100m in just one week in the February heatwave. We need Minister de Brenni to commit to a big battery build to solve the energy crunch.” Queensland Conservation Council Energy Strategist Clare Silcock said.   

“When South Australia faced blackouts, their response was to build a 100 megawatt battery in 100 days, bringing down power bills and delivering energy security. Queenslanders are about to be hit with a significant rise in power prices which means we need action from Minister de Brenni,” Ms Silcock said. 

“If South Australia could do it, Queensland can do it too. Minister de Brenni should commit to two 100 megawatt two hour batteries by the end of Winter, to start bringing down power prices for Queenslanders and safeguard our energy system ahead of summer,” Ms Silcock said. 

“After more than a year of planning, we are confident that Queensland Government can build batteries on land it already owns, connected to a transmission network it owns, to be operated by generators that it owns, quickly.” Ms Silcock asked.  

In the last 12 months, outages across all power stations have pushed up prices. In May, an average of over 3 GW of coal capacity was unavailable, around 40% of the state’s entire coal fleet.  

“The only time we’re getting any relief in prices is in the middle of the day when rooftop and large-scale solar is generating. This demonstrates how desperately we need more renewable energy capacity and more storage,” Ms Silcock said. 

Renewable energy expansion in Queensland has stalled since 2017 due to lack of political appetite that would make space for investment from renewable energy proponents. 

“We can’t rely on coal to get us out of this energy supply crisis. At tomorrow’s Federal Energy meeting, we need de Brenni to show that Queensland is ready for the jobs and industry opportunities that renewable energy delivers and the battery storage we need to keep prices stable long term,” Ms Silcock said. 

Media contact: Clare Silcock [email protected]

Sunday 5 June 2022

Queensland Conservation Council strongly welcomes today’s announcement of nearly $40m of new funding for threatened species from the Qld Govt.  

“We can save our iconic native species. We know it will take funding and research, and strong laws to protect habitat from clearing, logging and development,” said QCC Director Dave Copeman.  

“Today’s funding announcement by Minister Scanlon is a clear demonstration that the Queensland Government hasn’t given up on our incredible native wildlife. This $14.7m funding for recovery plans for threatened species and Indigenous Land and Sea Rangers is an important commitment.   

“We were disappointed beyond words at the news that the outgoing Federal Minister Sussan Ley abolished 176 Recovery Plans for threatened species and habitats as one of her last acts as a Minister. It seems she’d just given up on preventing the all too common march to extinction.  

“Australia regrettably leads the world in mammalian extinctions. We have lost more than 10% of our mammal species since 1788. 

The new Federal Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek should review this decision, and recommit to the recovery to healthy populations for all threatened species in Australia. 

“Queensland has the highest number of threatened species in Australia, and they face the greatest extent of habitat destruction in the country, principally through shocking rates of landclearing. 

The Queensland Conservation Council (QCC) welcomes the announcement made today by Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon of the $8.6 million to revegetate and protect key koala habitat in the northern Brigalow Belt.

“In the last several months, koalas have been uplisted to endangered both federally and in Queensland. It is more important than ever that koala habitat be restored and preserved.

“This is especially significant for an area like the Brigalow Belt where the 2018/2019 SLATS report shows the largest amounts of deforestation have occurred.

“While we celebrate investment to revegetate cleared koala habitat, it would be even better if the Government prevented koala habitat from being destroyed in the first place,” said Jon Ferguson, QCC’s Nature Campaigner. “We continue to call on the government to take the necessary steps to protect this iconic Australian species.”

These steps include:

1. Closing loopholes in the Vegetation Management ACt that allow clearing of koala habitat
2. Expanding and extending the SEQ Koala Conservation Strategy
3. Increase funding for the Protected Area Strategy
4. Strengthen environmental laws that were weakened under the Newman Government

“We can save the Koala and other threatened species, but we must act now, follow the advice of conservation scientists and protect their habitats from the destruction that drives extinctions,” says Jon Ferguson.

For further information and comment, contact:
Jon Ferguson, 07 3846 7833