IEA data exposes “technology not taxes” myth of former Morrison government

Australia’s public funding of the research and development of energy technologies has continued to lag behind international peers, despite the former Morrison government claiming it had adopted a ‘technology not taxes’ approach to cutting emissions.

New data published by the International Energy Agency (IEA), shows public research and development funding was slashed under successive Coalition governments and a significant proportion of the available funding continued to flowed to the development of fossil fuel technologies.

According to the data, which was published by the IEA in May, Australia committed a total of US$307 million in public funding to energy related research and development, with $104 million of this funding being directed to fossil fuels.

This amount dwarfed the $31 million in Australian research funding that went towards renewable energy technologies, and the $75 million provided to developing new hydrogen innovations.

The data shows energy research funding collapsing under the Coalition government, following a period of significant increases under the Rudd-Gillard governments.

In 2013, the final year of the previous Labor government, total energy related research funding exceeded $800 million, when renewable energy research funding had exceeded $450 million in 2013, falling by more than 90 per cent to the $31 million figure recorded in 2021.

“What an incitement of the former Coalition Government which oversaw a damning drop in energy tech investment over the last nine years and woefully failed to deliver on its technology not taxes mantra,” the Australia Institute’s climate and energy program director, Richie Merzian, told RenewEconomy.

“Australians are literally paying for the crash in energy research and development since 2013 through higher power bills and a more unreliable grid caused by aging gas and coal power stations.”

“Instead of investing in the cheapest new build energy, namely wind and solar power, Australia’s largest share of energy research and development in 2021 was in fossil fuels. And look at where that’s gotten us.”

The latest figure happens to align with the amount of money the Morrison government spent on its ‘Making Positive Energy’ advertising campaign, to promote its climate and energy policies in the lead up to the recent federal election.

That advertising campaign sought to emphasise government investments in new low emissions technologies, but received criticised for misrepresenting the Morrison government’s efforts to cut emissions, and received an international “Public Disservice Award” in “recognition of its significant investment in misinformation and propaganda.”

The dramatic fall in public research funding started in the immediate aftermath of the election of the Abbott government, and continued through to the Morrison government, despite the latter promoting a ‘technology not taxes’ approach to energy policy, that claimed to emphasise the need to invest in further technology improvements to reduce costs.

Much of Australia’s clean energy research funding has been provided by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, created under the Gillard government, that faced several attempts under the Abbott government to see it abolished.

The collapse in Australian energy research funding is in contrast with the experience observed in other countries, with energy research funding across all IEA member countries growing from $20.5 billion to $23 billion between 2011 and 2021.

“The United States and Japan spent the most on energy RD&D among IEA member countries, followed by France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Korea, Italy and Norway.” the IEA’s report says.

A ranking of countries by energy related research funding as a proportion of gross domestic product shows Australia ranking in the bottom third of IEA member countries.

The IEA says the data shows a shift in the types of technologies that are the focus of research funding, with a greater emphasis on emerging clean energy technologies.

“Budgets for both energy efficiency and renewables expanded significantly faster during the 1990s and 2000s, from 7 per cent each in 1990 to 22 per cent and 21 per cent respectively in 2010,” the IEA says.

“Since then, the share of energy efficiency has increased to reach 26 per cent, whilst the share of renewables has declined to 14 per cent.”

“In 2021, the budget of IEA countries increased for all types of technology except for energy efficiency and cross-cutting technologies, which decreased by respectively 2 per cent and 3 per cent,” the IEA adds.

“The highest increase was 27 per cent for hydrogen and fuel cells, which followed a 23 per cent increase in 2020.”