JOBS — CLEAN
INDUSTRIES
1567. Hon TIM CLIFFORD to the Leader of the House
representing the Premier:
I refer to the Premier's
dedication to pushing LNG jobs over clean industry careers—such as
careers in carbon farming, tree planting, renewable energy, land management,
renewable manufacturing, green building materials and recycling, and other
clean industries.
(1) Will the
state government create a task force similar to the LNG jobs task force but
designed to grow clean industries in WA?
(2) If no to (1),
will the Premier please explain to the house why an LNG jobs task force is
acceptable but a clean industry jobs task force is not?
(3) How many full-time equivalents
are employed as part of the LNG jobs task force?
The PRESIDENT: Minister for
Environment—actually, no; Leader of the House.
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
I thought I heard Minister for
Environment. I am sorry; I am slightly brain-dead. I thank the honourable
member for some notice of the question.
(1)–(3) The
McGowan government is pursuing strategies to put Western Australia front and
centre of the hydrogen and battery components industry. With our
world-class renewable energy resources, large unpopulated landmass, established energy infrastructure,
world-leading expertise in LNG and strong trading partnerships with
Asia, WA is exceptionally well positioned to play a leading role in the global
hydrogen economy. Whilst still in its infancy, the Australian hydrogen export
industry could reach $2.2 billion a year by 2030. Through the McGowan government's renewable hydrogen strategy and
a $10 million renewable hydrogen fund, we are working to develop a renewable
hydrogen industry in the state and potentially create thousands of jobs for Western
Australians.
In January 2019, the McGowan
government released the Future Battery Industry Strategy to support the
development of a world-leading, sustainable, value-adding, future battery
industry that provides local jobs, contributes to skill development and economic
diversification, and benefits regional communities. By November 2019, WA had $3 billion of major battery minerals projects
under construction or committed, and, in 2018–19, direct
employment in WA's battery minerals industry rose 17 per cent to 13 085.
The strategy has a clear focus on attracting investment into the sector,
providing project facilitation services to generate a diverse downstream
processing industry across a range of battery minerals, and supporting research
to enhance WA's competitiveness in the global battery value chain
through the provision of $6 million in funding to the Future Battery Industries
Cooperative Research Centre. The strategy also explores opportunities to
support greater domestic uptake of energy storage systems, with the potential
to develop capacity and create jobs in WA's clean energy industry.