The Queensland government could delay the release of its detailed plans to meet the state’s 75 per cent 2035 emissions target by up to five years in a move likely to further inflame tensions between the federal and state governments over climate and energy policy.
The plans, which the previous Labor government had set for publication by December 2025, are intended to outline the contribution of the energy, resources, agriculture, transport, industry and built environment sectors to the state’s legislated climate target.
Queensland Energy Minister David Janetzki says the previous government’s energy plan was “fundamentally dishonest”. Jamila Filippone
But in a note published on the state Treasury website in late December, the Queensland government said it had extended the deadline for publication to October 2030, when its new energy roadmap is due to be reviewed.
The move is the latest in a string of rollbacks and delays to the previous state Labor government’s climate policies, which include the scrapping of renewables targets, a plan to run coal plants for longer, the cancellation of several wind farms and a tightening of planning rules for clean energy projects.
The changes have caused tensions with both federal and state governments who will need to significantly increase their own emissions cuts to keep pace with Australia’s national target of a 62 per cent reduction on 2005 levels by 2035.
Analysis by the Queensland Conservation Council in October estimated that the state would only reach about a 50 per cent reduction in emissions by 2035, in the scenario outlined in the government’s new energy roadmap – 25 per cent less than the promised 75 per cent figure.
Queensland has reduced its emissions by 34.4 per cent on 2005 levels, according to the most recent state government data. But according to the Grattan Institute think tank, in the absence of any new policies, Queensland’s future emissions reduction may be lower than the QCC estimate.
Alison Reeve, the energy and climate director at Grattan, said Queensland’s current plans meant other states would need to find almost 10 per cent of additional emissions cuts to meet the federal government’s 2035 emissions target.
“Most of the emissions reductions under the previous government’s plan would have come from the Energy and Jobs Plan and co-operation with the Commonwealth on implementing the sector plans,” she said.
“If these are no longer happening, then there’s around 400 million tonnes of emissions reductions over the decade that need to be carried by other states to get to the 2035 target. This is around 9 per cent of the national effort.”
A spokesman for Treasurer David Janetzki said the former Labor government’s climate and energy plans were based on flawed assumptions about the role of major pumped hydroelectricity projects.
“The Crisafulli government’s sector plans to reduce emissions in line with legislated targets will be realistic and achievable,” he said.
The 75 per cent emissions target was legislated by the former Labor state government and remains the policy of the Crisafulli government. The Climate Change Authority cited Queensland’s goal as part of its 2035 target advice to the federal government in September.
However, the LNP government has scrapped its predecessors’ ambitious renewable energy goals, including short-term renewables targets of 50 per cent by 2030, 70 per cent by 2032 and 80 per cent by 2035.
In October, Janetzki unveiled a plan to keep the state’s fleet of coal-fired power plants running until the end of their technical lives, which would see some run well into the 2040s. Labor originally planned to close all the facilities by 2035.
Speaking at the launch of the energy roadmap, Janetzki said delays to emissions plans were consistent with the federal government’s timelines.
“It took the federal Labor government a lot of time, well into their second term, to finalise their emissions targets,” he said.
He said there were no plans to amend Queensland’s legislated emissions reduction plan, but added “every other jurisdiction” was going its own way on emissions targets.
“We’ve got to digest the federal emissions work undertaken by Chris Bowen, which I wasn’t consulted on. So we’ll go and do that work … but we’re committed to net zero by 2050 and there’s no changes to that [legislation].”
Queensland opposition energy spokesman Lance McCallum said the Crisafulli government had no intention of meeting the legislated emissions reduction targets and made the task even harder by cutting renewable energy from the grid.
“Our local companies and businesses are relying on critical sectoral emissions reduction plans to keep competitive, protect existing jobs and create new ones, but the LNP won’t even commit to dates for the plans to be released,” McCallum said.
“The Crisafulli-Bleijie government’s secret delays to emission reduction plans mean greater emissions, more risk and uncertainty for industry and less jobs.”
Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt told a Senate estimates committee on Monday that the Australian and Queensland governments were prosecuting the energy transition at “different levels of urgency”.
“If any state government slows down its transition towards renewables, that puts extra pressure on the remainder of the country to deliver the commitments we have made,” he said.
