Unions claims broad support for government funding of renewable energy to power big industry

Seven out of 10 Australians back government spending on renewable energy to power manufacturing facilities cheaply.

Public support for energy infrastructure privatisation is much lower, the same polling commissioned by Renew Australia for All has found.

The surveying follows the launch of “Sovereign Power”, a proposal for a Commonwealth-owned agency to build, own and operate renewable energy projects predominantly to provide low-cost power to the energy-intensive manufacturing base.

The pitch from Electrical Trades Union and McKell Institute has framed a national power agency as an improvement on the series of haphazard bailouts granted to aluminium smelters and other heavy-industry companies struggling to withstand high energy prices.

The survey conducted by 89 Degrees East found three-quarters of roughly 4000 Australians polled believed the government should play a larger role in building and running energy infrastructure.

Less than a quarter believed privatisation of the energy sector had done the nation good.

89 Degrees East research director Rebecca Huntley said support for government-backed green manufacturing was “quite high” but the public tended to approve of community benefits flowing from major infrastructure projects. 

However, support for green manufacturing and the broader energy transition was growing, she told AAP, particularly since the conflict in the Middle East exposed vulnerabilities in fossil fuel supply chains.

ETU national secretary Michael Wright said existing policy interventions were not well-targeted at solving energy choke-points facing heavy industry.

A public clean energy entity could help close that gap. 

“This is a better, more long-term form of industry assistance than what’s currently getting rolled out,” Mr Wright told AAP.

The public entity proposal, launched at the National Press Club in June, would support the existing Future Made in Australia plan to foster green industries, including green steel, aluminium and critical minerals.

Cheap power would be provided to manufacturers through long-term power purchase agreements, with government’s low cost of borrowing to fund solar and wind build-outs central to the affordability promise.

Redirecting unused funds from the National Reconstruction Fund has been floated as an option for an initial Commonwealth equity injection. 

Source: AAP