In markedly stronger language than that of his predecessor Larissa Waters, Senator Shoebridge said the right balance needed to be struck between progressing the energy transition and protecting Australia’s environment.
It is the biggest sign yet that Senator Shoebridge plans a more adversarial approach with Labor.
“There is this clear and present threat to our ecosystem coming from climate change and we need to we need to build the renewable future, we need to electrify our economy,” Senator Shoebridge said.
“But of course that isn’t just a blank cheque for thoughtless development. It’s always going to be a balancing act and we know we have to do this at speed and at scale. You always want to make sure that protecting nature is front and centre of the work we do.”
Senator Shoebridge was critical, though, of the concerns being overblown when it came to landclearing for renewable energy projects as opposed to other industries.
“We also need to look at what the alternatives to the rollout at scale of the renewable energy industry is – show me an open-cut coalmine that’s respectful for a forest or a farm,” he said.
Former Greens leaders Christine Milne and Bob Brown are among the growing chorus of environmentalists who have demanded a tempering of the renewable energy rollout, which will require nearly half a million hectares for the 25,000-plus additional wind turbines and 250 million or more solar panels currently proposed to ensure Labor reaches its 82 per cent renewable energy target by 2030.
Following analysis of more than 1000 projects last year by conservationist Steven Nowakowski, which found about 406,000 hectares would be needed for the additional wind and solar farms, Ms Milne warned Australia could face “an ecological disaster” should projects continue being doggedly pursued with little thought to the environment.
In contrast to Senator Shoebridge’s comments this week, former leader Larissa Waters was more muted on the matter while serving as leader, refusing to respond directly to Ms Milne’s call for the green movement to fight damaging renewables projects.
While agreeing broadly that “all big energy projects” should be subject to environmental laws, Senator Waters spent the past year seeking to stress instead the Greens’ support “for both large and small scale renewables”.
The sudden change in leadership follows Senator Waters revealing her chronic kidney condition was worsening and necessitated that she step down from the role, while still serving in parliament.
Faced with mounting concerns over the renewable-energy rollout from Greens figures and communities, Energy Minister Chris Bowen’s department launched a cross-agency working group this year to fight the “climate misinformation” it fears is thwarting the green-energy transition.
Labor is on track to fall short of its 82 per cent renewables target, energy experts and peak bodies say, with latest forecasts indicating it was more likely Australia would hit 75 per cent by 2030.
Before being elected leader on Wednesday by the 11-member Greens party room, Senator Shoebridge was already becoming more forthright in his criticism of emissions-reducing technologies such as electric vehicles and the risks they posed.
In comments to The Australian last month, Senator Shoebridge criticised Labor for allowing motorists to be “wired into corporate surveillance networks with none of the consent or safeguards they were promised by this government”.
“Corporate greed built surveillance architecture and it has happened because of weak laws, but it is ordinary Australians who are paying the price,” he said.
Senator Shoebridge stopped short of backing a Coalition-led push for an inquiry into the risks posed by EVs.
Connecting with “ordinary Australians” and the “material issues” they faced has been a reappearing be theme in Senator Shoebridge’s comments in the days after being elected Greens leader – the party’s third in 18 months.
The former NSW parliamentarian said the inability of Labor to address cost-of-living pressures over the past four years would bolster the Greens’ long campaign to increase taxes on big business and address corporate greed.
“People working 60-hour weeks are paying their tax and can’t afford the rent,” he said. “We’re going to articulate that and connect with people on this these messages, which people just implicitly know are right.”
Having served at a local, state and federal level, Senator Shoebridge said it had become clear to him politicians in Canberra desperately needed to refocus on delivering tangible outcomes to everyday Australians rather than be distracted by “abstract” debates, particularly in housing.
“I can’t believe that we’ve had four years with this housing crisis and all the years before that, with the Coalition, and they’re all still talking about some kind of abstract tax lever or some kind of corporate incentive as the way of building houses,” he said.
“Do you know what I would do? I’d say build the houses, train the apprentices, just fix it and do it directly. How that would be a welcome change.”
Senator Shoebridge rebuffed concerns that green tape was among the issues standing in the way of further housing development.
“They call it green tape when actually, most of these rules are just making sure you have a liveable home,” he said.
Sarah IsonSenior Political Reporter