The Morrison Governments inability to deliver sensible energy policy is now hitting the resources sector.
The Managing Director of Australias largest gold miner, Newcrest Minings Sandeep Biswas, has hit out at the Morrison Governments energy policy chaos and the damage it is doing to investment especially in renewable energy, saying:
We cant work out whats going to happen in the market, which way is it going to go and how do we plan in that market and thats because theres a complete lack of policy.
Mr Biswas flagged the damage the governments chaos is doing to investment, as well as system reliability and security, saying:
when you dont have that policy certainty, youre getting a lack of investment, youre getting an imbalance in some areas in terms of the type of power coming in, in terms of how the grid is optimised, and how the stability of the grid is managed.
Australias biggest gold miner has opted for a power contract with EnergyAustralia rather than invest in a new 140MW solar power plant as a result of policy chaos from Canberra.
The Morrison Governments inability to deliver sensible energy policy has seen wholesale electricity prices rise by 158 percent since 2015 and gas prices tripling for Australian users, while Australia has become the worlds largest gas exporter.
Shadow Agriculture and Resources Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said This policy chaos is hurting the whole economy, hurting families and energy intensive businesses, and the latest comments from Newcrest Mining confirms it is hitting the resources sector the Government claims it supports.
Shadow Climate Change and Energy Minister Mark Butler said It is past time the Morrison Government stood up to its own anti-renewable members and delivered a plan for a clean, modern and affordable energy system. Until they do, Australian industry and families can only expect higher power prices, less reliability and more pollution.