Address To Hydrogen Connect Summit 2023:

Advantage Isn’t Enough: How Can Australia Turn Energy Superpower Dreams Into Reality?

Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the National Employer Association Ai Group

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC), Glenelg Street, Brisbane

This is a contradictory time for clean economy visions in Australia.

Our opportunities are becoming tangible. Major economies are making huge investments. Markets for minerals, energy and products are shifting. Governments are backing targets with the money and the nitty gritty needed to deliver them.

At the same time Australians feel intense doubts about our own ability to deliver. Supply chains are stretched. Project delivery costs surged for all forms of energy in 2022. Slow approvals and NIMBY grumpiness risk throttling transition. Mega-subsidies by the largest economies will make our underlying advantages irrelevant.

Against that contradictory background the Federal Government is considering how to respond to the US Inflation Reduction Act. Big decisions are needed soon.

Today I’ll sketch our situation, our choices, and a vision to guide action that is driven by realistic hopes and tempered by plausible fears.