A company showcased as part of Labor’s increasingly unhinged net zero plans has gone under despite receiving more than $750,000 in taxpayer-funded grants in the past five years.

One Nation leader Senator Pauline Hanson said the company, battery manufacturer Energy Renaissance had joined more than 1400 Australian manufacturing businesses which had become insolvent since 2023.
“Net zero and viable manufacturing in Australia are just incompatible – even when you’re making batteries as part of Labor’s renewables transition,” Senator Hanson said.

“Manufacturers need affordable, reliable electricity and cheaper gas but under net zero these
have never been more expensive in Australia than they are today, and will only become more expensive.

“According to the ABS, manufacturing’s share of Australia’s GDP has declined from 8.9% to 5.1% since 2005 while manufacturing electricity costs have risen 181% and manufacturing gas costs have risen 186% since 2000. It’s no wonder ASIC figures show that more than 1400 manufacturing businesses have become insolvent these past two years.

“You’ve got to feel for the workers at Energy Renaissance, which hosted an announcement by Labor minister Ed Husic in 2023 about consultation on the government’s national battery strategy. There he was saying Australia had to “electrify, electrify, electrify” while Labor’s netzero policies continued to drive electricity prices through the roof, businesses into insolvency and households into poverty.

“How many more businesses will be forced to close before Labor realises net zero is a fantasy that cannot be achieved, does not reduce global emissions and only results in Australia having some of the highest electricity prices in the world?

“While Labor and the Greens double down on net zero as their vehicle for turning Australiainto a poor socialist police state, and the Coalition’s net zero identity crisis persists, only One Nation is providing a clear path forward: dismantling net zero, withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, and forging an independent energy policy that
prioritises affordable, reliable power for the economy, households, business and industry.”

ENDS