Cure for coronavirus-hit economy could be in renewables: Garnaut: Brisbane Times

By Lydia Lynch

"As Australia scrambles to avoid its first recession in three decades, economist Ross Garnaut says it is "exactly the right time" for government to throw cash into renewable energy infrastructure.

The global outbreak of COVID-19 has already taken a bite out of tourism, education and export industries, with the federal government working on a stimulus package to stave off a recession.

Professor Ross Garnaut says government should be investing in renewable energy. Credit:Louie Douvis

Professor Garnaut said the country could not avoid sliding into a recession, but governments could "shape the way we come out of it".

"Even if there was no disruption in Australia from the virus, what has already happened to the economies of our major trading partners is deeply damaging to the Australian economy," he said, speaking at a CEDA lunch in Brisbane on Wednesday.

"The pure economics say right now is exactly the right time for major investment in the industries and infrastructure of the future."

"The high cost of transporting renewable energy overseas made Australia the perfect candidate to process its own iron, aluminium and other raw minerals, he said.

"Play it right and Australia has exceptional opportunities for new areas of prosperity and economic expansion in the zero-emissions world economy," he said."


Read the original Brisbane Times article