Energy agency axed in federal budget

A national agency created to boost the supply of renewable energy in Australia will be abolished.

A national agency created to boost the supply of renewable energy in Australia will be abolished.

The decision to axe the Australian Renewable Energy Agency was confirmed in Tuesday's federal budget.

It will save the budget $1.3 billion over five years.

The agency was created to fund renewable projects and drive research and investment, particularly into new technologies.

It brought several clean energy programs under one roof when it was created by legislation in November 2011.

It enjoyed bipartisan support at the time, and was allocated more than $3 billion once its operations kicked off in July 2012.

The Abbott government later announced it would reduce ARENA's funding to $2.5 billion.

Over the next eight years $1 billion will be retained to support "priority projects" already underway.

ARENA can't be abolished without legislation passing parliament, and it's likely Labor and the Australian Greens will oppose any efforts to repeal the Gillard-era agency.

The government also announced $460 million in savings over three years by trimming the Carbon Capture and Storage program.


Share

1 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world