First address by QLD’s new Energy Minister (David Janetzki) at Queensland Energy Club on Tuesday 8th April 2025

Apologies to some readers, for this article will be another one of those cryptic and incomplete articles that we’ll come back to at some point in future….

Yesterday (Tuesday 8th April 2025) we were pleased to be able to host a table of some of our team and some valued clients/guests at the biggest Queensland Energy Club lunch event of all the ones that we’ve attended:

1)  Our compere noted that there were ~650 people in attendance.

2)  It wasn’t because of us that so many people were there … but rather because this was the much awaited (and delayed because of TC Alfred) first public address by QLD’s new Minister of Energy, David Janetzki:

3)  Ironically, it was only a few minutes before the Minister started speaking that I asked one of our guests something along the lines of ‘has the LNP formally killed the former government’s Energy & Jobs Plan?’ because I could not actually remember hearing anything definitive about this, but was sure it would be coming … and then we had our answer.

Beyond that aside, I’m not going to go into details of our perspectives about the event, and what the Minister said on the day in this article – that might come later (separately).  For now I’m just going to collate a few different sources of information and/or commentary related to the event below.

So feel free (as a reader) to add other links in the comments…

From the Government

Dropped at 13:16 yesterday (i.e. which would have been around the time the Minister was wrapping up) was the ‘Media Statement: Energy Roadmap to deliver affordable, reliable and sustainable electricity ‘

… which was (in words) much shorter than his actual speech.

In the Press

We don’t comprehensively scan the media, but have coincidentally noticed the following:

1)  In the AFR:

(a)  The coverage started at 00:01 starting the day (i.e. even before the talk) with James Hall writing ‘Queensland tears up transition targets and will keep coal for longer’.

(b)  This was followed by a second effort by James Hall at 20:05 in ‘Qld scraps renewables goal, backs coal, vows to hit net zero anyway’.

2)  The other big story the team had noticed even before we walked into the Star was in the ABC:

(a)  … where Emily Dobson, Georgia Loney and Zara Margolis wrote ‘CopperString transmission line projected to cost almost $14b amid massive blowout’.

3)  In RenewEconomy:

(a)  It wasn’t a surprise for us to read afterwards from Savannah Meacham the story ‘“Fiscal vandalism:” Queensland doubles down on coal and gas after transmission, hydro cost blowouts’

4)  In the Guardian:

(a)  We noted Andrew Messenger wrote ‘LNP orders review of Queensland’s emissions reduction target of 75% by 2035’

5)  In the Australian:

(a)  Sarah Elks wrote ‘Election 2025: Queensland to axe renewables targets in blow to Labor’.

Note that there’s probably much more in the media, we’ve just not seen…

On Social Media

On Social media there have been many different comments – I thought it was worth directly referencing the following:

1)  In his own LinkedIn profile, the Minister noted this.

2)  From within the Government itself:

(a)  Under the ‘QLD Treasury and Energy’ handle*, there’s this update.

* wow, did I miss that change of department structure in yet another machinery of government change across the State and Federal bureacracies supporting the NEM?!

3)  From industry figures:

(a)  Tom Metcalfe (CEO of CleanCo) posted these comments, referencing Mt Rawdown hydro project.

(b)  Matt Rennie posted this after facilitating a very brief ‘fireside chat’ after the Minister’s talk.

4)  From industry organisations:

(a)  The Clean Energy Investor Group posted this.

(b)  Received via email was this update from the Queensland Renewable Energy Club, with a particular turn of phrase (i.e. the perspective that ‘there needs to be a clear lane for renewable energy’) highlighted because it jumped out at me:

… and there’s obviously much, much more.