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Coal power the target of Gillard’s green plans

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$1bn funding for climate change plans

All new coal-fired power stations will have to meet greener standards if Federal Labor is re-elected on August 21.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard outlined Labor's new approach to climate action during a speech at the University of Queensland in Brisbane on Friday.

The speech was disrupted by a Friends of the Earth protester who was wrestled to the ground by security officers as he entered the room where Ms Gillard was speaking.

The prime minister adopted a cautious approach in her speech, emphasising that climate change was a big challenge and people had the right to be concerned about the risk of electricity prices rising.

She announced tougher emissions standards for new coal-fired power stations, and said Labor would invest $1 billion in the national electricity grid to make it more friendly to renewable energy.

Labor also would reward businesses which restrain or cut their emissions by freezing baselines to be used in an emissions trading scheme, when it starts.

On coal-fired power stations, Ms Gillard said a tougher system would apply only to new projects, not to existing ones or those being proposed which already had environmental approval.

The standards would be “best practice” and would mean power stations would have to be built so they could have green technology - called carbon capture and storage - retrofitted.

The new standards would be written after consultation with industry, experts and environmental groups.

“This means that we would never allow a highly inefficient and dirty power station to be built again in Australia,” Ms Gillard said.

On renewable energy, Labor will spend $1 billion over 10 years to make it easier to connect renewable energy projects to the electricity grid.

Another $100 million will be provided to work with financial institutions to develop new renewable energy projects.

Ms Gillard did not budge from her policy of reviewing the need for an ETS in 2012, to start some time from 2013.

She has resisted calls from green groups to quicken the process or establish an interim carbon price.

But Ms Gillard did set out the pathway to an ETS by creating a citizens' assembly made up of 150 people selected from the census or the electoral roll.

The voluntary assembly, which will sit for 12 months, will examine the evidence on climate change, the case for action and a market-based approach to reducing pollution.

The assembly's role would be as final arbiter or judge of consensus but to indicate the progress of community consensus.

Ms Gillard warned what would happen if the assembly could not be persuaded by the case for change.

“That would be a clear warning bell that our community has not been persuaded as deeply as required about the need for transformational change,” she said.

Ms Gillard described climate change as a big challenge but warned it would take time to tackle.

“There is not a switch to flick or one single behaviour to change," she said.

“I will act when the Australian economy is ready and when the Australian people are ready."

Ms Gillard said she was committed to taking action.

“It is not an Australian thing to do just to leave a problem like this to our kids to deal with."

Bradley Smith, the 26-year-old protester detained by security officers as Ms Gillard spoke, managed to deliver his message before being bundled handcuffed into a commonwealth car.

“The government has had a three-year mandate, but done nothing," he said.
AAP