Sharon Grierson (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this matter of public importance on carbon tax—and it certainly is important—but let us not fool ourselves that the issue being debated here today by the opposition has anything to do with their concern for state or local government or for regional communities like the one I represent. Instead, it is just a smokescreen for the opposition's continued denial of the basic facts of climate change and their lack of ideas to guarantee prosperity for the future of regional electorates like mine in Newcastle. The most basic difference in this debate is that, unfortunately, the Abbott led coalition are still in a state of denial. They behave like the dinosaurs of the past and would condemn us to a very uncertain future.

In contrast, that is not what we are doing. We do not think, like the member for Warringah does, that climate change is 'absolute crap'. We are not, as he has said, 'hugely unconvinced by the so-called settled science on climate change'. We know it is real. We believe the science. We respect the science. I am very pleased the member for Wentworth has come out in defence of science too. We are a great country, a country of great knowledge, great ability and great capacity. We should never talk that down or take it for granted.

We will introduce a plan for the future. We will introduce a clean energy future for this nation—a package that will be introduced in the Labor way, in a way that creates opportunity, takes on the challenges of hard reform, taxes major polluters and not ordinary people, assists households and the most vulnerable in our communities, and sustains employment and jobs. We are proud of our record on sustaining employment and jobs. It will also position our economy, in international and global challenges, in a way that will bring prosperity.

It is something that Labor does and does proudly. I cannot believe the opposition's mantra of 'the sky is falling' and doom and ruin. It is reckless and undermines economic confidence of the people we represent—and it is deliberate. Our price on carbon is modest; $23 per tonne, and gives three-year certainty for industry, which is exceedingly important.

The Abbott led coalition and their recently elected friends in New South Wales and Victoria, on the other hand, continue to expose the Australian people to the most scurrilous, deceitful and ludicrous scare campaign in recent political memory. They claim a carbon price will damage state governments and destroy jobs in my state of New South Wales. These claims are not only reckless but also irresponsible. They are untrue.

In late May Premier O'Farrell peddled out some core modelling to claim that 18,000 jobs would be lost under a carbon price in New South Wales. To once again paraphrase Mr Abbott, this claim was absolute crap. To make this claim, Premier O'Farrell relied on a discredited and outdated piece of research by the Liberal Party's favourite consultant, Frontier Economics. The costings and assumptions underlying that particular piece of research have been disputed. He talked about so-called job losses when in fact all available evidence demonstrates that jobs growth will continue in New South Wales under a carbon price. For example, reputable modelling by the federal Treasury shows that coalmining in New South Wales is projected to grow by 118 per cent to 2050.

Let me tell you about that because I represent the city that has the biggest export port of coal by volume in Australia. We currently export 100 million tonnes of coal to the world. It is projected that in the next 10 years we will increase that to 200 million tonnes per annum and then to 300 million tonnes per annum. There is no lack of investment or confidence in my electorate for the coal industry. This discussion and debate on carbon and a lower carbon energy future has not dissuaded or deterred investment. Two hundred thousand new jobs in the mining boom are projected over the next two years.

The federal Treasury also projects that the economy of New South Wales will grow strongly under a carbon price—growing by 27 per cent to 2020 and by 164 per cent to 2050. The simple reality is that all credible evidence and modelling suggests that the state of New South Wales and the Hunter region would be better off under Labor's Clean Energy Future package. We have learnt very quickly, though, in the five months since the New South Wales Liberal government was elected that they have no credibility when it comes to dealing with the facts or exercising responsible leadership. This is the very same state government which, just two weeks ago, took more than 56 hours to inform residents in my electorate that 10 kilograms of carcinogenic hexavalent chromium had been leaked over their homes. This is the government that is quick to trumpet exaggerated figures about fictitious job losses but utterly negligent in its responsibility to warn citizens about a very real and very carcinogenic chemical cloud affecting the neighbourhood.

So I think the coalition's hyperbole falls particularly short. Our Clean Energy Future package also applies very responsibly to the region I represent. We have been watching the steel industry struggling with some of the economic pressures of the high Australian dollar and low international demand, and I hear nothing from the other side of the chamber about supporting that industry. Yet our $330 million steel package, which is already projected to support BlueScope Steel, sits there on the table.

The package has been well received by people like Geoff Plummer, the national general manager of OneSteel. He said:

We believe that on balance, the sectoral approach announced today by the Prime Minister for the steel industry, including the introduction of the STP is both appropriate and sensible. We are pleased that the Government has responded by adopting this approach.

The member for Groom just spoke. He comes to Newcastle quite a lot and always comments on how wonderfully well we are doing. The growth of our economy has been outstanding. But you come to Newcastle and tell steelworkers that they will not get any assistance, or come and tell our coal industry that they will not get assistance from the coalition! I do not see that happening, because the people who sit on the opposite side of the chamber just want a fear campaign; they do not want facts and figures. And they certainly do not understand about sustaining economic growth and jobs.

This motion suggests that local government will be doomed. I think it was 20 years ago when Newcastle City Council hosted the first Pathways to Sustainability conference. We have now rolled out programs across the whole country on energy conservation, preserving water and making that transition to a clean energy future. We have been doing it for over 20 years through a program called Together Today, with every school and industry in my electorate working together for a clean energy future without having to wait for government.

Similarly, I think people know how hard we have worked in my region to create a clean energy future through the federal government's investment in the Australian Solar Institute, which is headquartered in Newcastle; the national Enterprise Connect Clean Energy Innovation Centre headquartered in Newcastle; the Smart Grid, Smart City $100 million program based in Newcastle; and the new Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources at Newcastle University, which is doing the most wonderful work.

The package that the federal Labor government has put out will advance those cleaner technologies. It is finally the signal needed for investment. We have been waiting for the Finance Corporation component to progress to commercialisation of these technologies. China currently is investing one per cent of its GDP in renewable technologies. We want a part of that; we have to be a part of that. Our Clean Energy Future does not prejudice the prosperity of national, state and local governments—it builds it. It is a great policy and one that I am very proud of.

I also say to the opposition: let's look to some economic certainty in this country, let's look to some bipartisanship. I know that it is a lot to ask but that is what the people of Australia want. Let's be part of creating a prosperous future for them. Let's be part of taking on the challenges of sustaining employment in existing industry and in new industry. Let's be part of positioning this country as a leader, where it should be, in clean energy and jobs of the future. I would like to see less obfuscation, less recklessness and certainly less misleading information coming from the other side of this parliament.

I am pleased to follow Simon Crean, the Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and the Arts, in this debate because his recent visit in my electorate was so well received because of his track record in Labor politics of job creation and protection. People came up to him with great affection. Steelworkers of the past, who know that in this challenge they can feel secure. (Time expired)

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