Greg Martin, chairman of the ESAA, told the 7th Victorian Power Conference that investment is being adversely affected by external factors that only governments can address. Significant among these is the greenhouse gas abatement policy.

"To remove the uncertainty about the future treatment of large scale, long-lived energy investments the ESAA calls on the Federal Government to settle on a greenhouse gas abatement target for 2050 that applies to the whole Australian economy and ends the competing State and Federal measures and targets," Martin said.

In calling for the target, the Association insists that its achievement must ensure that Australia remains a competitive economy, providing much more certainty for investors while concurrently addressing the supply challenge and greenhouse objectives.

"Against a long term greenhouse gas abatement target, companies and individuals must be able to choose from the widest possible set of options to achieve the necessary reductions. The Association is strongly of the view that this should be through a mechanism that minimises the impact on the energy market."

"Technology developments will be an important contributor to achieving greenhouse gas abatement. The ESAA calls on the Federal Government to better coordinate and continue funding research efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the stationary energy sector. It is also vital that Australia is an active participant in developing global approaches to abate emissions to maximise access to the widest range of abatement measures and techniques."

Martin told the conference that constant change in the policy and regulatory climate also threatens investment. He called on the Ministerial Council on Energy to conclude its work quickly and to ensure that the implementation of the announced regulatory and governance arrangements achieve efficient and predictable processes and outcomes.

"We are very concerned that the duplicative and inefficient processes of the past are not continued. There remains much work for governments to do beyond the decisions announced so far and the ESAA is ready to assist," Martin said.