Australia's Labor Party not to resume RET talks for now - report

Nov 28, 2014 - The opposition Labor Party in Australia will not resume negotiations on the Renewable Energy Target (RET) unless the government “takes a more credible approach to securing the future of this vital industry”, the Guardian reported.

On Thursday the ministers for environment and industry, Greg Hunt and Ian Macfarlane, invited Labor to continue negotiations in order to reach a decision on the revision of the RET. They warned that the uncertainty created by the lack of action is threatening the industry and the stability of power prices.

The Guardian today quoted Labor’s environment spokesman Mark Butler as saying that the ruling government is the one to blame for the current situation as the prime minister did not keep his election promise to retain the RET.

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. This would be a significant reduction from the existing 41,000 GWh annual renewable power target for the end of the decade. The Labour Party did not accept the proposal. After prolonged negotiations it abandoned the talks.

“Given what’s at stake, the renewable energy industry expects both parties to return to negotiate in good faith,” said Clean Energy Council’s acting CEO Kane Thornton in a statement today.

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