A candidates forum held in Melbourne last night saw two Victorian Labor shadow ministers in the hot seat: Lily D’Ambrosio the Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources, and Lisa Neville, Shadow Minister for Environment and Climate Change.

The Victorian Labor shadow ministers reaffirmed the party is ‘in the business of growing renewable energy’ and didn’t rule out adopting a Victorian Renewable Energy Target.

The Labor restated its commitment to restoring the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target (VEET) and abolish the anti-wind farm laws, at the forum, and pledged to release details of its highly-anticipated renewable energy strategy before polling day.

The audience was eager for assurances on climate policy, namely the establishment of an Renewable Energy Target for the state. The shadow ministers responded that Labor was open to a Renewable Energy Target but emphasised that federal constitutional laws were an obstacle. This claim to a “constitutional problem” was received as a weak qualification, since SA and ACT both have successful RETs in place.

Questions about the Renewable Energy Target from the audience were specific and demanding: “What will the target be and when will it be set?” D’Ambrosio and Neville explained that due to federal constitutional laws, a state scheme would not be able to bind corporations. D’Ambrosio however, did assert that if the Victorian Labor party was elected they could “find a way around [the laws].” Continue reading “Candidates Forum: ‘we’re in the business of growing renewable energy’, says Vic Labor”