Melbourne
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Good afternoon and thank you very much for the opportunity to address you today.
Can I say it has been a busy morning at the end of what has been a very busy year across all three areas of my portfolio responsibility – resources, energy and tourism.
This morning I released the Government's Draft Energy White Paper, the 2011 National Energy Security Assessment and the Strategic Framework for Alternative Transport Fuels.
The Draft Energy White Paper is a substantial piece of work, following the release of the last Energy White Paper in 2004.
A lot has changed since then, and it sets out a series of proposed Australian Government priorities to address challenges confronting Australia’s energy sector.
These go to:
- Strengthening the resilience of Australia’s energy-policy framework;
- Re-invigorating the energy market reform agenda;
- Developing Australia’s critical energy resources – particularly gas; and
- Accelerating clean energy outcomes.
You know as well as I that a reliable, secure and competitively priced energy supply is fundamental to our economy and our prosperity.
The White Paper will help ensure we have the right policy framework in place to ensure our prosperity continues.
To ensure business and industries can grow and create jobs.
To ensure we have an environment that encourages investment so we can attract the capital we need to replace ageing infrastructure as well as keeping up with growing demand.
To ensure we get the balance right and consumers aren't paying more than they should for what is an essential service.
Our energy market reform agenda must continue if we are to achieve these things and we must have a degree of bipartisan support – particularly important in the capital intensive energy sector where investment horizons span decades.
We know that Australia is an attractive investment destination.
We see that nowhere more clearly than in our resource and energy project pipeline.
A pipeline that recently topped $231 billion in committed capital expenditure, with additional major projects also approaching final investment decisions.
Of this, the biggest growth industry is LNG.
As in the US, the gas industry in Australia is booming.
However unlike the US where gas sector investment to date has been focussed on meeting domestic demand, Australia's investment is to meet domestic and export demand.
We have seven LNG export projects under construction with more on the horizon.
Together they will increase Australia's LNG export capacity such that we will rival Qatar for the position of world's largest exporter in future years.
And US companies are key investors when it comes to the development of this industry in Australia.
As you would know Chevron recently made its single biggest investment in Australia - in the $29 billion Wheatstone LNG project.
ExxonMobil partners with Chevron in Australia's largest resources project – Gorgon.
Apache, Hess, ConocoPhillips – all are investors in Australia's gas rush, and Bechtel is a key contractor – particularly in the Queensland CSG to LNG projects.
And that's not to forget Peabody of course – the world's largest privately owned coal miner, with their investments in one of our other top export commodities – coal.
All this investment is welcome.
Next month I set off to the US once again to see if I can attract even more of investment our way.
But my trip to the US is about more than just resources and energy trade and investment – it is also about tourism.
Although sometimes underestimated, tourism is an important part of our economy.
It directly employs almost 500,000 people and it rightfully has a place at the cabinet table, something former Prime Minister Rudd ensured upon taking office in 2007.
Tourism has one of the highest economic multiplier effects of any industry.
Its flow on benefits are substantial.
And it has faced some pretty tough challenges of late with everything from floods to cyclones to the Qantas grounding, not to mention the high Australian dollar and the economic volatility creating weakness in our traditional tourism markets of North America and Europe.
And we must not forget the value of these markets.
Despite challenges in the US economy, the US remains an important source of tourists for Australia.
Although visitor numbers were down 4.7 per cent in 2010-11, the US is Australia’s fourth biggest source of tourists and expenditure, with spending of over $1.75 billion in 2010-11.
So I am very much looking forward to G'Day USA 2012 and the opportunities I will have to further strengthen our ties with the United States.
President Obama's recent visit here was, I think you would agree, very well received and important for the ongoing strong relationship between our two countries.
AMCHAM's work is invaluable in continuing to nurture the relationship between our two countries.
In conclusion let me finish by giving you a brief summary of what we have on the cards for 2012 in the resources, energy and tourism portfolio.
The Energy White Paper I have already mentioned, and of course we will have the implementation of the Clean Energy Future package and the supporting programs around the carbon price.
We will progress our investments in clean and renewable technologies to make the breakthroughs we need and create the export markets of the future.
The $3.2 billion Australian Renewable Energy Agency will begin operations from 1 July 2012.
For offshore petroleum developments we will see a new, stronger, single national regulator commence operations from 1 January.
Onshore we are progressing a wide range of work with state and territory counterparts around best practice for mineral and energy developments, in particular on coal seam gas.
You may have seen last Friday that my state and territory counterparts and I reached agreement on a national harmonised framework for CSG.
We must improve and streamline regulation in this growing industry and in so doing improve practice across the board to restore community confidence and lock in the long term viability of this critical sector.
In Tourism, I last week released an update to the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy – Tourism 2020, which maps our policy framework for seeing growth in this sector and helping it to maximise its potential.
We will continue to encourage investment across the board while also keeping an eye to ensuring that the projects already underway get off the ground by addressing pressures around skills and labour through a balance of training and temporary migration.
My portfolio is the engine room of the Australian economy and I am looking forward to a very productive 2012.
Thank you.