SYDNEY, Nov 12, 2019 – Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy’s proposal to prop up dying industries that business won’t is a symptom of the fossil fuel fetishisation and climate change denial that plagues the Coalition at state and federal level.

This morning Mr Guy announced that if the Coalition is successful at next week’s election it will tender for 500MW of electricity generation to power infrastructure, such as the state’s electricity network and hospitals.

“This retrograde policy reveals that Matthew Guy is just as ignorant of climate science and the economics of power generation as he is with Victorian voters”, Greenpeace Australia Pacific Campaigner, Alix Foster Vander Elst, said.

“What we should be doing right now is investing in an electricity network founded on renewables backed up by battery storage. By placing bets on polluting fossil fuels like gas or coal, he is risking the state’s finances as well as the health of Victorians and the environment.”

Polling Greenpeace commissioned during the heated debate over the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) found that 77 percent of Victorians want Australia to embrace a high renewable energy target to help put downward pressure on power prices.

The poll also found that more than 76 percent of Victorians believe the best way for the government to ensure low cost reliable electricity supply is to invest in renewables, along with dispatchable storage solutions like batteries and 74.5 percent of Victorians want renewables to receive more government support than fossil fuels such as coal.

While the Coalition looks to the past to solve the energy challenges of the future, the Greens and Labor have unveiled ambitious policies to reduce the pollution that causes climate change and drive down power prices by introducing more renewable energy into the system.

Labor’s VRET aims to power Victoria with 50 percent renewable energy by 2030, while the Greens have put forward a 100 percent target with the same deadline.

“Victorians are faced with a clear choice at next week’s election,” Ms Foster Vander Elst said.

“They can vote for more jobs, lower power prices and less pollution or they can elect to slam the brakes on that progress, put jobs at risk, as well as the environment and people’s health by going back to the past with coal.”

Contact:

Greenpeace Australia Pacific Media Campaigner Martin Zavan

0424 295 422

[email protected]