Almost 89% of Australians back RET scheme - poll

Dec 2, 2014 - Nearly 89% of Australians support the current level of Australia’s renewable energy target (RET) for 2020 or want it to be increased, a new poll shows.

According to the Reachtel survey, commissioned by the World Wide Fund (WWF), about 60% of those polled in South Australia through it was very important for the Australian government to invest in renewables, while the percentage in Victoria and Tasmania was 62.4% and 59.8%, respectively.

Results from the poll also showed high approval for the RET among swing voters, with 88% of them saying the scheme needs to be increased or kept unchanged. Some 62% are more likely to vote for a party that wants to keep or hike the target.

The Reachtel poll was conducted on November 26 and included 5,036 participants from Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.

In October, Australia’s ruling party presented a proposal to cut the RET to a "real" 20% of demand in 2020, or around 26,000-27,000 GWh, from the existing 41,000 GWh annual renewable power target for the end of the decade. The Labour Party did not accept the proposal, which led to prolonged negotiations. It walked out of the talks and the industry is now waiting in limbo to see if, how and when the RET will be changed.

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