The Business Council of Australia has made a submission to the Department of Industry on the Energy White Paper Issues Paper.

The submission recommends that, through the Energy White Paper, the federal government establishes a framework and agenda that is adopted across all Australian governments that:

• sets a vision for Australia’s energy policy that maximises Australia’s competitive advantage in energy through efficient markets and drives growth in our energy exports, while managing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions in line with global efforts

• adopts a market-based energy policy framework that builds market resilience, promotes competition, provides stable and predictable guidance for investors and delivers efficient outcomes for consumers.

The Energy White Paper must establish a policy platform for:

• removing unnecessary barriers to the development of new natural gas supplies
• reducing regulation and government intervention in the market that is found to be pushing up the cost of energy to consumers for no apparent benefit
• streamlining and accelerating the planning, approvals and environmental assessment processes across Australian governments
• creating new momentum for energy market reform for state governments to privatise energy assets, move to retail price monitoring, and adopt independent and economically efficient reliability standards.

The submission recommends that the design and operation of the Renewable Energy Target and the Direct Action Plan need to support the efficiency and long-term stability of Australia’s electricity markets, and minimise energy and greenhouse gas emissions costs to Australian businesses and households.

Submission to the Department of Industry on the Energy White Paper Issues Paper