Australia’s PM Reshuffles Cabinet, Appoints New Energy Minister

Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the new Ministerial line-up at Parliament House today, with Josh Frydenberg now heading the expanded Environment and Energy portfolio.

The new portfolio combines all the key energy policy areas, Turnbull said. These include energy security and domestic energy markets for which he has been previously responsible, in the current portfolio, renewable energy targets, clean energy development and financing, and emission reduction mechanisms which are part of Environment.

Greg Hunt, the Environment Minister, will now move to Industry, Innovation and Science. At Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s conference held in Shanghai last year, Hunt announced Australia will look into its offshore wind potential – a significant step for the country in this direction, since Australia does not have any turbines installed off its coast.

The current Australian cabinet, led by Prime Minister Turnbull, has made a U-turn on the energy policy of the previous government, which had banned investment in new wind power projects. In December 2015, a new mandate was signed, under which the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) will support “emerging and innovative” wind energy systems, but is encouraged to focus on offshore wind technology.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s Cabinet reshuffle and the alignment of the Environment and Energy portfolios is a smart step forward that recognizes the significant policy relationship between the energy sector and Australia’s climate change commitments, the Clean Energy Council said today.

Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Kane Thornton said the combination of the energy and environment portfolios made a lot of sense and the industry looked forward to working with Minister Frydenberg to continue to transition Australia’s energy sector.

“Australia has a big challenge and opportunity in transitioning its energy sector to a cleaner, more modern system, and it’s critical that climate policy and energy policy are all pulling in the same direction,” Thornton said. “Australia has some of the oldest and highest-polluting electricity generation in the world, and clear and coordinated policy is crucial to attract private investment in clean energy and deliver a reliable and low-cost energy supply. This can deliver billions of dollars in investment and tens of thousands of jobs into the future with the right policy settings.”

Offshore WIND Staff