Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Energy spokesperson
A 12 month talkfest is not what Tasmania needs in the middle of an energy crisis. We need action and leadership and we need it now.
Minister Groom has picked a crop of people he already oversees to head up a Taskforce, who will take a year to “independently” evaluate our energy security needs. This is straight from the script of 'Yes Minister'.
The Minister said we shouldn't have knee jerk reactions, but he’s already declared the Liberals' commitment to a second Basslink cable, without considering renewable alternatives.
Minister Groom’s only real plan is to go cap in hand to Canberra begging for a second Basslink cable that would lock us into a fossil-fuel future without first focusing on becoming 100% renewable.
Tasmanians don’t have an energy export problem, we have a renewable energy generation problem, as well as a debt of more than $860M from our existing interconnector.
Instead of blowing close to billion dollars on an antiquated back-up plan, the Minister could start work today to get the rooftop solar industry back in business and set the market conditions to attract large-scale renewables.
This was the hottest summer on record, with a drought that’s ongoing and unprecedented bushfires. Climate change is not a future risk to manage, it’s a current one, and waiting a year to make system changes is far too long.
Minister Groom has not only failed to understand the urgency of the crisis we’re in, he's also failed to act on it.