THE House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy will hold a roundtable public hearing on Thursday for its inquiry into modernising Australia’s electricity grid.

The Committee is conducting an inquiry into this important topic and has been receiving wide-ranging feedback from the Australian community via the online questionnaire created for the inquiry. The questionnaire can be accessed here.

In this initial roundtable the Committee is looking forward to hearing from the key players about the history of the electricity grid in Australia, how it developed to its current operational state, and the current challenges being faced by the grid in meeting modern demands.

Committee Chair, Andrew Broad MP, said “It’s becoming increasingly clear that the electricity grid in Australia is entering a significant period of transition. There are new sources of electricity, such as wind and solar, being fed into the grid, and consumers are demanding more information about how and why their electricity is being generated and distributed.”

“The Committee is conscious that there is a lot of work being done in this space currently. The government, regulators, operators and consumers are at a pivotal point in the future of energy in Australia, and a modern electricity grid is essential. There is a role for the community and lawmakers in shaping this change and modernisation. This Committee needs to be well-informed to ensure that its contribution is meaningful and appropriate,” Mr Broad said.

The Deputy Chair of the Committee, Pat Conroy MP, said “To kick off this inquiry, the roundtable being conducted on Thursday will help set the scene for this inquiry and help us —and the community—understand how the grid got to the point it did today. We will also be looking to identify some of the challenges with the current grid, which the Committee can investigate further and address throughout the inquiry.”

The Committee will hear from:

• The Commonwealth Department of the Environment and Energy
• Australian Energy Regulator
• Australian Energy Market Commission
• Australian Renewable Energy Agency
• the Clean Energy Finance Corporation
• Australian Energy Council
• Energy Networks Australia
• Energy Consumers Australia
• CSIRO
• The Australian National University – Energy Change Institute.

Public hearing details: 10:00am - 12:00pm, Thursday 30 March, Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House, Canberra

The hearing will be webcast at aph.gov.au/live. 

Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the website. 

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THE Parliamentary Innovations Committee will tomorrow morning experience Volvo’s latest semi-autonomous vehicle as part of its inquiry into driverless vehicles.

Committee Chair, Michelle Landry MP, said the Committee was looking forward to Volvo demonstrating its latest automated vehicle technology on the roads around Canberra. Volvo will show the Committee members what autonomous features are currently in place for the XC90 Volvo, including:

• an automatic breaking functionality and collision avoidance system
• large animal detection
• auto steer function and run off road mitigation
• pilot assist also works up to 130 km/h on clearly marked roads.

The Committee will inspect the vehicles at 8.25am and depart Parliamentary Drive on the House of Representatives northern pull in bay at 8.30am.

A number of public hearings have been scheduled in Canberra and interstate during, April and May. The schedule can be found here.

The Committee is still accepting submissions for this inquiry. Please notify the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you intend to make a submission.

Further information on the inquiry, including the full terms of reference, is available on the Committee website. The Committee is expected to report by September 2017.

Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the website. 

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TOMORROW The Australian will host the fifth Global Food Forum in Melbourne. 

The previous four events attracted a combined 1,600 delegates and helped to set the agenda for agribusiness in Australia.

agribusiness is a vital sector which plays a key role in the nation’s economy, turning over more than $150 billion and employing more than 500,000 people.

Key speakers at this year's conference include:

• Brad Banducci Chief Executive Officer, Woolworths 
• Anthony Pratt Executive Chairman, Visy

Discussion topics and speakers also include: 

• The view from China. Louis Li Deputy General Manager, JD.com
• Cracking China’s consumer economy. John O’Loghlen Director of Business Development Australia and New Zealand, Alibaba Group and Albert Tse Founder, Wattle Hill
• Making hay: Riding the ASX food boom. Mick McMahon Chief Executive Officer, Ingham’s and Christine Holgate Chief Executive Officer, Blackmores
• The dairy crisis: Is the worst finally over? Barry Irvin Executive Chairman, Bega Cheese and René Dedoncker Managing Director, Fonterra Australia
• Farming and investing smarter: The ag tech revolution. Harry Debney Chief Executive Officer, Costa Group and Sam Trethewey Chief Executive Officer, SproutX

The Australian will be live blogging from the event. You can keep up to date with the discussions at: www.theaustralian.com.au/gff. 

CONFERENCE PROGRAM:

9.15am Conference Opening & Welcome
Paul Whittaker Editor-in-Chief, The Australian

9.20am Keynote Address
Anthony Pratt Executive Chairman, Visy

9.30am In Conversation
Brad Banducci Chief Executive Officer, Woolworths, with The Australian’s John Durie on putting the customer first.

10.00am Keynote Address via video
Gina Rinehart Executive Chairman, Hancock Prospecting Group and S. Kidman and Co. Why Hancock is betting its future on agriculture.

10.40am In Conversation
The Chinese food revolution. John O’Loghlen, Director of Business Development Australia and New Zealand, Alibaba Group with Glenda Korporaal Associate Editor-Business, The Australian.

11.00am Panel Discussion
Cracking China’s consumer economy. Albert Tse, Founder, Wattle Hill and Peter Nathan, Chief Executive Officer A2 Milk with Glenda Korporaal Associate Editor-Business, The Australian

11.30am In Conversation
Former Minister for Trade Andrew Robb talks to Sue Neales Specialist Agriculture Writer, The Australian about northern Australia, China and life after politics.

11.50am Panel Discussion
Making hay: Riding the ASX food boom. Mick McMahon Chief Executive Officer, Ingham’s and Christine Holgate Chief Executive Officer, Blackmores with Damon Kitney, Victorian Business Editor, The Australian

1.20pm In Conversation via video
David MacLennan Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Cargill with Cameron Stewart Associate Editor, The Australian.

1.35pm Panel Discussion
The dairy crisis: Is the worst finally over? Barry Irvin Executive Chairman, Bega Cheese and
René Dedoncker Managing Director, Fonterra Australia with Eli Greenblat Retail Writer, The Australian

2.05pm Panel Discussion
Banking on the farm - a good investment? David Goodfellow Chief Executive Officer, Rifa Australia and Michael Dundon Chief Executive Officer, VicSuper with Eric Johnston Business Editor, The Australian

2.30pm Panel Discussion
Farming and investing smarter: The ag tech revolution.
Harry Debney Chief Executive Officer, Costa Group and Sam Trethewey Chief Executive Officer, SproutX with Sue Neales Specialist Agriculture Writer, The Australian.

3.25pm Panel Discussion
Smashed avocados, healthy fast food and organic: the consumers of the future. Steven Marks Chief Executive Officer, Guzman Y Gomez and Katrina Myers Chief Executive Officer, Barham Avocados with Bernard Salt Columnist, The Australian.

3.50pm Panel Discussion
In the kitchen: Restaurant trends. Peter Gilmore, Quay restaurant and Alla Wolf-Tasker, Lake House and John Lethlean restaurant reviewer, The Australian

4.20pm Conference review and wrap
Darren Thomas Chief Executive Officer, Thomas Foods International, with Damon Kitney Victorian Business Editor, The Australian and Sue Neales, Specialist Agriculture Writer, The Australian

ENDS

AUSTRALIAN Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) CEO Steve Knott has welcomed the Australian Government today making three exceptional appointments to Australia’s national employment tribunal, the Fair Work Commission (FWC).
 
The appointment to Deputy President of Peter Anderson – business experienced, legally qualified, and well regarded both domestically and internationally – ticks all the boxes for the type of people the FWC needs to restore its credibility and independence, Mr Knott said.
 
"Peter is widely-known and well-regarded by business, unions and the legal community, most notably for his six-year leadership of the nation’s umbrella business representative organisation, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI)," Mr Knott said.
 
"AMMA worked very closely with Peter during this time and found him to be a highly effective and considered statesman, engaging equally with all social partners to support valuable investment and employment outcomes in Australia.
 
"Perhaps less well known is the high regard to which Peter is held at the international level, having been our region’s representative for the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). In that role, Peter has advocated Australia’s interests and values in discussions on workplace relations, youth unemployment, freedom of association, economic and taxation policy and many other key social issues.
 
"AMMA also congratulates the two additional appointees announced today: Corrs Chambers Westgarth Partner, Alan Colman, as Deputy President; and Sarah McKinnon, general manager of workplace relations and legal affairs at the National Farmers’ Federation, as Commissioner.
 
"Mr Colman and Ms McKinnon are both highly qualified and have the type of broad experience across law, workplace relations and business that will see the FWC better support employment outcomes in the future."
 
In recent months AMMA has highlighted the issue of growing vacancies at the FWC and the urgent need for new appointees to have business experience and legal qualifications.
 
"We are pleased the Australian Government has acted to fill vacancies on the national employment tribunal and have selected quality appointees who add considerably to the FWC’s bench strength," Mr Knott said.

www.amma.org.au

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THE Queensland Resources Council is extremely concerned to see the broadening of the work of the select committee into Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis before the first inquiry has been finalised.
 
QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said to change the scope at this stage is unhelpful.
 
“It adds even greater uncertainty for all parties involved and further delays outcomes to the affected coal miners,” Mr Macfarlane said.  
 
“Industry is already taking pro-active steps to address dust levels on mine sites and we are working with unions and governments to ensure levels are kept below the regulated limits.
 
“Industry has also worked proactively to make sure that concerned retired workers, and workers who are no longer coal mining, are offered screening for the disease.
 
“Industry must have confidence in the medical assessments that our workers undergo. It is now clear that the advice the Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM), industry and unions were receiving from many medical specialists, especially radiologists from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCAR) simply wasn’t good enough.
 
“There are examples of GPs in Rockhampton and Mackay diagnosing cases that the radiologists had missed. This is simply not good enough," he said.
 
“There must be a significant improvement in the standard of medical assessments that our coal workers are required to undergo. We want nothing less than the world’s best practice when it comes to the industry. It is vital the radiologists are highly skilled and using the best equipment that is available to make sure that we are getting every case at its earliest stages."
 
The committee’s first report is now not expected until late May and the date of the final report has been extended to September.

www.qrc.org.au

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LOCAL COUNCILS can apply for up to $5million in funding to support smart tech projects for their communities.

THE LATEST campaign by activists seeking to derail Adani’s proposed Queensland Carmichael Coal Project has again missed the point by using the signatories of dozens of successful, well-paid Australian identities to argue against a project that would significantly benefit the less fortunate.

The campaign, organised by millionaire businessman and serial activist Geoffrey Cousins, has seen a number of successful business people, musicians and former sportsmen and Greens Party senators, sign a letter to Gautam Adani claiming his company’s proposed project ‘does not have wide public support in Australia’.

“There are a number of well-known Australians among the signatories to this petition. No-one begrudges them their successes and any wealth that may have come as a result, but it must be remembered that the Adani project will provide enormous benefits to people and communities who are doing it much tougher,” AMMA chief executive, Steve Knott AM, said.

“During the construction phase, the Carmichael coal mine and railway will inject around $21 billion into the Queensland economy, provide around 10,000 jobs, countless opportunities for small and medium businesses along the supply chain and create a real buzz of economic activity in many rural communities.

“This potential comes in an environment where Australia’s unemployment has risen again to 5.9 per cent – another 6,400 people were made jobless in February alone - and underemployment is staggeringly high with 1.1 million Australians saying they do not have enough work.

“Disproportionate levels of young people who are unemployed or underemployed in Australia are leading to significant social issues such as crime, drug abuse and welfare dependence.

“In addition, the Carmichael Coal Project will help more than 300 million people living in India without electricity and still cooking with solid fuels like wood, animal dung and crop waste, which the World Health Organisation attributes to more than four million premature deaths each year.

“This project has been through years of delays, challenges and vexatious litigation by misinformed activist groups. It is subject to more than 200 strict environment conditions that will ensure no impact on the Great Barrier Reef, and has had bi-partisan support from Liberal and Labor state and federal governments.

“It is time to drop the misguided activism that fails to consider the facts around the Carmichael Coal Project and to support Adani in getting this significantly positive development off-the-ground.”

www.amma.org.au

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