The DLP believes that the earth’s climate is constantly evolving through naturally occurring events, such as solar cycles, movement of ocean currents and volcanic activity, among other natural factors. The DLP rejects the hysterical mantras surrounding anthropogenic climate change as promoted by the World Economic Forum’s “Great Reset”, which posits that human-induced CO2 emissions are leading to catastrophic global warming and an increased severity and frequency of natural disasters.
The DLP Energy Policy is based on energy production that promotes the lowest cost and most reliable form of supply. While advocating for High Efficiency Low Emission (HELE) coal-fired power stations we recognise the need for adequate measures to reduce particulates.
Priorities:
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To deliver affordable and reliable energy for households, agriculture, retail, and manufacturing industries.
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To stimulate Australian production and manufacturing, which in turn will create job growth and highly paid renumerations.
Jump to:
- Coal
- Solar and Wind
- Battery Backup
- Building an Energy Self-Sufficient Australia
- Natural Gas
- Ethanol and Other Biomass Fuels
- Nuclear
- Oil
Coal
- Remove all punitive measures the federal and state governments have legislated against fossil fuel burning industries. Energy intensive industries are compelled to purchase expensive large scale and small-scale renewable energy certificates and surrender them to the clean energy regulator, based on their level of emissions. This is discouraging industry, business and jobs and the added costs are passed on to consumers, forcing up power prices for everyone.
- Create more new baseload power generation. High efficiency, low emissions (HELE) coal-fired power stations provide clean, low cost, continuous, 24/7 electricity which will stimulate a revival of our manufacturing industry and create much needed jobs. Coal-fired power is by far the cheapest form of baseload power, currently less than one third the cost of gas.
- Encourage coal to oil liquefaction (CTL) which adds to our fuel oil security.
Solar and Wind
- Remove all subsidies (currently over $3billion annually) to non-baseload power generators such as wind and solar. This will create a level playing field for baseload power generators to operate in, and lower energy prices.
- “Renewables” such as solar and wind are not effective or low-cost power generators because they still need baseload power to back them up to keep the lights on when the wind is not blowing and sun not shining. Gas peaking power plants that fire up ‘on demand’ can charge up to the cap of $14,700 per megawatt hour when required to fill the void left by “renewables” not generating sufficient power. This is a very expensive way to generate power, based on an ideology to cut CO2 emissions.
- We recognise that wind turbines have significant environmental costs causing a massive number of bird strikes, especially to large birds of prey and endangered species. They also affect the amenity of the natural environment, destroying its inherent natural value.
- Additionally, those living in proximity to wind turbines report health problems from the noise and disturbance caused by operating turbines.
Battery Backup
The argument for battery backup of a “renewables-based” grid has been discredited. An article in The Australian on the Industry Super Australia report “Modernising Energy Sectors: A Guide to Long-Run Investment Decisions” has found that backing up a nationwide renewable energy system for a mere 1½ days would require the building of a hundred Snowy Hydro 2.0 schemes at a cost of $700 billion or Tesla batteries at a cost of $6.5 trillion. This is clearly unachievable.
Building an Energy Self-Sufficient Australia
Energy resources such as natural gas and oil are the property of the Commonwealth and States, and therefore, the people of Australia. Australian governments licence exploration companies to extract these rich resources from the ground. No company has the sole right to sovereignty over these resources, or a right to dictate whether a government can, or cannot legislate to protect essential services or supplies such as natural gas for domestic and industrial use.
Natural Gas
The DLP supports connecting all capital cities into a national gas network.
We promote and encourage gas to liquid (GTL) fuel production in-country as part of a program increasing Australia’s self-sufficiency in energy. This is a viable fuel alternative which can be used in the production of distillate fuels. GTL is less polluting than crude-based oils. It produces a range of fuels from high quality diesel to aviation fuel, kerosene and base oils.
The DLP supports a reservation policy for Australia’s natural gas, whereby a portion of natural gas extracted is reserved for the domestic market at a low, set price. Evidence of the effectiveness of this policy in reducing prices can be seen in the price difference between Western Australia’s 15% gas reservation policy and the east coast market linked to the Asian LNG spot price. Since 2015-16, Western Australia’s price has fallen by 20% whilst the eastern market’s price has risen by nearly 90%.
With a reservation policy those states or areas reliant on natural gas for electricity production could have much more affordable energy.
We encourage LPG as an alternative vehicle fuel which could minimise harmful vehicle emissions such as carbon monoxide, sulfur and nitrogen oxide, and 50% less likely to contribute to smog. Our policy would encourage an uptake of a domestic LPG vehicle market.
We oppose gas import terminals as we are the largest gas exporter in the world, therefore the need to import gas is baseless. Having a domestic gas reserve with a low Australian price negates the problem of being tied to a potentially high and wildly fluctuating international gas price. An interconnected pipeline network would reduce the cost of transport of gas from remote gas fields across the country, and alleviate the requirement for imports from overseas places such as Singapore, as per the five gas import terminals planned for Australia.
Ethanol and Other Biomass Fuels
DLP’s policy is pro-active in assisting Australian small businesses and industry, encouraging research, production and use of new ethanol fuel technologies and removing unnecessary red tape and “green” regulations, and barriers to entry into the market.
Nuclear
New technologies allow for small modular reactors (SMR) plants with improved safety and better plutonium waste management. SMRs can be built faster and are less expensive to establish than conventional reactors.
- The ban on nuclear technologies should be lifted.
- DLP supports the embracing of nuclear power for electricity generation (where it is price comparable with other base-load power generation), medical research and also for ship and submarine propulsion.
- The DLP encourages the exploration of the use of Thorium power plants.
Oil
The DLP is concerned about Australia’s fuel vulnerability within our own strategic region, and believes we must dramatically boost fuel supplies, holdings and pro-actively commit to ensuring the survival of an in-country fuel refining industry.
The DLP believes that mounting tensions within the South China Sea and Indian Ocean would impact ‘Just-In-Time’ fuel delivery from the Middle East and South East Asia.
We note the forgotten historical lessons of fuel shortages which Australia experienced throughout WWII, and in the immediate post-war years. Australians had to survive on strict fuel rationing as no international tankers would visit Australian ports. In the Oil Crisis of 1973-74, Australians again were subjected to strict fuel rationing, with limits on fuel purchases.
In December 2019, Australia consumed 1,104,629 barrels of oil daily. Australia currently needs to import 90,000+ barrels of oil per day. This shows the precarious nature of Australia’s energy security.
Therefore:
- The DLP will dramatically boost in-country oil exploration, fuel supplies, storage and holdings and is committed to ensuring the survival of an Australian fuel refining industry.
- Australia needs significant national strategic oil and fuel reserves located in-country.
- The DLP rejects holding strategic oil reserves in the USA or ‘oil tickets’ elsewhere, such as in South Korea or the Middle East, which not only incurs US$ millions in annual costs, but is folly in a time of crisis as factors outside of Australia’s control will determine access to and delivery of the oil Australia has paid for.
- Strategic reserves of crude oil could potentially be held in salt domes ‘in-country’, in underground bunkers and tank farms.
- Fuel to outback Australia can be provided by both rail and road transport, which together provides a viable, greater capacity and safe mode of transportation of fuels, especially in a time of naval threats to coastal shipping.
- Encouragement of ethanol and biomass synthetic fuel, coal to oil liquefaction (CTL) and gas to liquid (GTL) fuels production in-country.
- Debunk the current mantras surrounding the size and maturity of the global market, market measures, fuel stock on the water and free trade. This is never the determinant of the nation’s fuel security in the event of naval blockades or interdictions, or hostile military threats.
- Jet fuel production in Australia should be increased significantly rather than imported as a national security priority.
