Dear Committee Secretary,

The purpose of this letter is to share research and analysis conducted by the Institute of Public Affairs (“the IPA”) into Australian energy policy with the Senate Standing Committees on Environment and Communications (“the committee”) as it conducts its inquiry into the Safeguard Mechanisms (Crediting) Amendment Bill 2022 (“the bill”). Attached to this are three research reports, one from February 2021 titled Net Zero Jobs: An analysis of the employment impact of a net zero emissions target in Australia, one from April 2022 titled The Economic and Employment Consequences of Net Zero Emissions by 2050 in Australia, and one from June 2022 titled Australia’s Net Zero Energy Crisis: An Analysis of the Electricity Price Implications of Net Zero Emissions by 2050.

On the basis of the IPA’s research, the IPA recommends the repeal of section 3H of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 and the repeal of The Climate Change Act 2022 in its entirety, which would have the effect of repealing Australia’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050.