To address Australia’s rising slump in productivity, the federal government held an Australia’s declining productivity levels this week. The event will be welcomed by Treasurer Jim Chalmers. It tries to address multiple economic challenges, including the pressing challenge of climate change. Zali Steggall, an independent member of parliament, emphasized that climate change is already deteriorating the economy and placing additional burdens on the federal budget.
Recent environmental challenges, including record-breaking floods in New South Wales and Queensland earlier this year, alongside the ongoing algal bloom impacting South Australia, were cited as critical examples of climate change’s detrimental effects. Steggall made the point that these events are equally an environmental as well as an economic crisis. She had a clear demand for swift action leading to better policy.
Regulatory Roadblocks and Energy Efficiency
Independent MP Zali Steggall introduced a suite of measures designed specifically to tackle the regulatory barriers that slow the implementation of new renewable energy technologies. She called current regulations major barriers for tenants, building owners and landlords who want to adopt energy-saving measures.
“We need to look at some of the regulatory roadblocks — it’s not just about subsidies, it is sometimes that the regulations don’t permit.” – Zali Steggall
This is why Steggall proposed removing or curtailing any damaging tax incentives such as negative gearing. This amendment would only affect rental housing that fails to meet basic energy efficiency standards. In doing so, she hopes that property owners will be incentivized to put their money into greener technologies.
Steggall called on the government to amend the National Construction Code. She cares deeply about making sure that new buildings are energy efficient, resilient to the impacts of climate change. This change would be a tremendous step toward achieving environmental and equity goals while building a stronger economy for all.
Financial Incentives and Subsidies
The federal and state governments have committed hundreds of millions of dollars to encourage homeowners to adopt new energy-saving products. Over the past two years, the federal and state governments have pledged billions of dollars to encourage growth of both rooftop solar PV systems and battery storage technologies. Federal Labor has pledged a $3 billion subsidy just for household batteries. This promise reflects the desperate urgency we have to turn the world to a renewable energy equation.
Steggall pressed the need for Australia to do better on the way it administers its fossil fuel exports. She suggested we need to implement a tax on Australian fossil fuel exports. This national levy would be in line with emissions pricing that the safeguard mechanism is supposed to provide. This new levy would be Australia’s chance to secure some of the revenue from its fossil fuel exports. It stops foreign countries from capturing all the rewards.
“The whole point is Australia has a huge opportunity to grow industries that we have struggled with traditionally, like steel, because we can make clean and green steel.” – Emma Aisbett
Emma Aisbett, a prominent expert in the field, reiterated the importance of creating an environment conducive to developing clean industries. Aisbett noted that while Australia is the largest exporter of iron ore globally, it still imports all its steel—a situation that could be rectified through strategic investments in cleaner production methods.
The Need for Climate Resilience
Steggall called into question the government’s motives in hosting the roundtable and if they did so with an open mind. She questioned whether they had outcomes already decided on. She emphasized that any conversation about productivity needs to address issues with climate resilience.
“I hope this is not a situation where they have got a policy setting they want to go in and they’re reverse-engineering a roundtable to suit their purposes.” – Zali Steggall
She repeated her earlier warning that climate risks will cause productivity to tank. Steggall stated, “Let’s be really clear, as soon as climate risk hits, productivity is down to zero. You can’t really talk about a strong future Australian economy without the resilience piece underpinning everything.”
Additionally, she emphasized that climate resilience needs to be central to our economic recovery plans going into the future. With the forthcoming rules from the European Union and other foreign domiciles, the urgency of these conversations cannot be understated.
“The EU’s is due to come into effect in 2026, other jurisdictions in 2027, so it’s not like this is something that’s not happening around the world … we don’t have the luxury of time.” – Zali Steggall
