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WA Chief Scientist Peter Klinken says State must be bolder in selling itself on energy security

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Danielle Le MessurierThe West Australian
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WA Chief Scientist Peter Klinken.
Camera IconWA Chief Scientist Peter Klinken. Credit: Andrew Ritchie/The West Australian

Western Australia needs to be much bolder in selling its vast natural resources to the rest of the world if it is to be a leader in solving the energy security puzzle, according to the State’s chief scientist.

If the international energy landscape were a poker game, Peter Klinken says WA — with its abundant solar and wind resources, among a host of others — would be holding a pair of Aces.

“If we play our cards right that we’ve got now, it sets the State up for the next 50 to 100 years. If we hesitate and decide to fold, some other jurisdiction with a pair of two’s will win,” he said.

“We have to claim this space. The offerings that we’ve got are phenomenal. We have to have a clear narrative and then claim it because other jurisdictions with less than what we’ve got are claiming their space more than we are.”

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It is up to Professor Klinken, who was appointed chief scientist in 2014 under the Barnett Liberal government and has just signed on for another three years, to advise the McGowan Government on ways to advance the economy through the science and tech industries.

“When I signed on to this job I was told we’ll take big rocks and turn them into little rocks and put them on a ship . . . I think we’ve got a bit more to offer than that,” said Prof Klinken, who describes himself as the State’s “chief cheerleader”.

The job is more important now than ever, especially with WA’s renewed focus on diversifying its resources-reliant economy.

Having recently returned from two overseas trips — one with deputy premier and State Development Minister Roger Cook to Europe and another with Innovation and ICT and Medical Research Minister Stephen Dawson to the US — Prof Klinken said Australia was clearly an “incredibly attractive destination” for investment amid the unstable geopolitical environment.

Many conversations during his travels revolved around energy security, fears around which have increased following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the clean energy transition and what WA has to offer.

“If you’re looking at our comparative advantages in terms of what we’ve got now: mineral resources like you wouldn’t believe. I think we’ve got 69 out of 103 elements in the periodic table — just unheard of,” he said.

“We’ve got LNG but we’ve also got sunlight and wind power like nowhere else, and huge amounts of land to be able to take advantage of that.”

Prof Klinken believes the energy transition is the one thing the McGowan Government must get right. It is already taking steps to achieve this with the June announcement it would retire the State’s two remaining coal plants by 2030 and invest $3.8 billion in green energy infrastructure in the South West Interconnected System.

Prof Klinken conceded it was a difficult balancing act for countries to ensure they have the energy to keep their societies going but also to create opportunities to be on the front foot as emerging technologies become accepted. However, he said it was crucial that WA stepped up to the mark.

“It feels like this is a North West Shelf moment for Western Australia where the State has made bold decisions in the seventies and eighties, and I feel like we’re at a similar juncture right now,” he said.

“It’s a bit like saying, ‘Have a go, mate’, instead of, ‘She’ll be right’.”

The renewables push will also lead to further opportunities for hydrogen production, Prof Klinken said, noting technologies were currently at various stages of maturation.

WA also has a bright future in remote operations capabilities — many of the State’s mine sites and offshore oil rigs are run from remote operations centres in the CBD that are “the equivalent of Mission Control at NASA” — and its growing health and medical sector, Prof Klinken said.

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