Sender: Dan Musil
Date: 29/09/2015 09:49 PM
To: renewable.energy@ecodev.vic.gov.au
Subject: SUBMISSION: Ambitious Vic Renewable Energy Targets Required !
Dear Minister Lily D'Ambrosio,
I call on the you and the Victorian Government to implement a strong Renewable Energy
Target, which includes support for the local manufacture and community ownership of
renewable energy technologies.
Increasing our renewable energy production is a moral imperative in the face of climate
change. If we ensure renewable energy technologies are manufactured in and owned by
Victorian communities, it also presents an opportunity to grow local manufacturing jobs and
support regional communities like the Latrobe Valley community make a just transition from
coal-employment to renewables-based employment. The Earthworker Cooperative project is
one pioneering project in this vein that deserves Government support as part of its Renewable
Energy Target.
The release of the Andrews government’s Renewable Energy Roadmap included a commitment
to Victorian Renewable Energy Targets for 2020 and 2025. The government's commitment to
transparent targets is a welcome step for our state.
A baseline Victorian Renewable Energy Target of no less than 20 per cent by 2020 will almost
double the amount of renewable energy generation in our state. Yet far more ambition is
needed.
Other states have shown leadership on renewable energy. The ACT has a Renewable Energy
Target of 90 per cent by 2020; South Australia 50 per cent by 2025; and Queensland, 50 per
cent by 2030. Federally, the Labor opposition has committed to a national goal of 50 per cent
by 2030.
Admittedly, reaching a high target may be more difficult for Victoria because of the size of our
population, our high per-capita energy use, our strong manufacturing base, and our current
reliance on brown coal generation. Yet, with the right policy levers and direct support from the
government, an ambitious target is possible.
However, the focus should not only be on the percentage of renewable energy produced in
Victoria. Key concerns should also be the ownership and manufacture of these technologies.
This is particularly important in the Latrobe Valley, where the inevitable phase-out of coal-fired
electricity generation will occur.
One innovative project that is working to address these issues, deserving of government
support, is the Earthworker Cooperative. The Earthworker Cooperative is working to establish a
network of worker-owned cooperatives operating in sustainability-focused industries, and has
already facilitated the establishment of Eureka's Future Workers Cooperative - a worker-owned
factory to manufacture quality solar hot water systems in Dandenong, and later in the Latrobe
Valley.
The Victorian Government's Renewable Energy Target should include support for local
renewable energy jobs and projects like Earthworker and other Community Owned Renewable
Energy initiatives (for instance, Hepburn Wind).
This could involve:

Government-led social procurement programs to roll-out Eureka's Future solar hot
water systems in public housing and disadvantaged households;

Start-up funding and business development support for Earthworker and similar
projects to expand production into the Latrobe Valley;

Support for worker-cooperatives to re-tool soon-to-close auto manufacturing facilities in
order to manufacture renewable technologies;

Better, fairer renewable energy rebate and subsidy programs that advantage highquality locally produced products over cheaper imports.
In order to urgently address the climate crisis, I support Victorian Renewable Energy Targets of
50 per cent by 2020, and 80 per cent by 2025.
I also call on the Victorian Government to ensure that this necessary ramp-up in renewable
energy is taken as an opportunity to develop more empowered, democratic and resilient
economies and regional communities, through the manufacture and community ownership of
renewable energy technologies.
Growing renewable energy is a win-win. More ambition means more jobs, more investment
across our state, and more action on climate change.
I call on the government to adopt Victorian Renewable Energy Targets that match and build
upon the ambition of the ACT, South Australia, and Queensland.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Musil