Prime Minister Scott Morrison made the announcement during a visit to Port Kembla in Wollongong, in the New South Wales Illawarra region, this morning.

“It means jobs right around Australia, right across the country,” Mr Morrison said.

That includes 35,000 jobs in manufacturing, agriculture, industrial and steel production.

The Prime Minister said the government is supporting the next generation of energy technologies with an extra $1.62 billion for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to invest and back new technologies that will cut emissions in agriculture, manufacturing, industry and transport.

“What matters is lowering emissions, what matters is lowering costs and what matters is creating jobs,” he said.

“And the changes we are seeking to make, a result of what we are announcing today achieve all those three goals, whether it is in hydrogen, carbon capture and storage.

“Whether it’s in how you build homes, how you run hotels, how you run your truck fleet, all this can be done with lower emissions technologies today and will be able to do it better int the future.

“If you don’t invest now, you won’t see these things happen in 10 years.

The package will go towards reducing Australia’s emissions reduction targets.

Australia beat its Kyoto-era targets by up to 430 million tonnes and the government was on track to meet and beat the 2030 Paris target, Mr Morrison said.