John Murphy (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I very much regret that the Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government has not been here to hear the member for Farrer completing what can only be described as a scandalous and scurrilous serial scare campaign run by the opposition in relation to our putting a price on carbon. Putting a price on carbon is in the interests of our country and the future of our children. Yet the opposition maintain this massive fear campaign, because that is the only campaign they know. If the member for Hotham were still here he would describe the contributions by the members for Wide Bay, Groom and Farrer as a national disgrace. It is just a complete fear campaign. Later in my contribution I will pick up on the comments that have just been made by the member for Farrer in relation to statements by Victorian Premier Baillieu and New South Wales Premier O'Farrell, because they, too, are monumentally dishonest and maintaining that scurrilous scare campaign in the states.

The time has never been better for us to transition from an Industrial Revolution economy to a new, green economy. Australia is very, very well placed to do so. We are an island continent. We have unlimited access to solar, wind, tidal and geothermal power.

On the subject of solar power, I want to put the Howard government in the frame, because I knew well Dr David Mills, who ran the solar energy project in the School of Physics at the University of Sydney, some years ago when he was looking for support from the Howard government in relation to his establishment of solar collectors adjacent to the Liddell power station in the Hunter Valley, with a view to providing solar power to that coal-fired power station. He came to Canberra to look for support from the Howard government. And what did he get? Absolutely no support—and it was a national disgrace when we lost Dr Mills, and $40 million in potential export revenue, to California.

In the area of wind power, we do not have to travel very far outside the national capital to reach Lake George and have a look at the wind turbines that have been established there. That is a very important step that the local community is taking to make a contribution to moving to a greener, healthier, cleaner economy.

I also remember some years ago travelling to New York and meeting Mr Trey Taylor of Verdant Power, who was running a very interesting clean-energy project on the East River. Mr Taylor and his company had something like half-a-dozen wind turbines submerged about a third of the depth of the water in the East River immediately adjacent to the United Nations building. He has demonstrated at this stage that the energy from tidal power—which, as you all know, is constant, unlike solar power and wind power, which at times can be inconstant though still there—generated by the tide running through the East River and powering those bidirectional turbines produces enough supply to power a six-storey car park and a delicatessen. It just shows you what a bit of creativity can do, and Australia is well placed in that area. We also have unlimited access in Australia to geothermal power. As I say, the time has never been more right for us to move to a cleaner, greener economy and get out of the dirty, carbon-polluting economy that we have had for so long in our country.

I would like to just trace some of the history of our first-term government, the Rudd-Gillard government, in relation to our engagement with the regions that the member for Hotham alluded to in his contribution to this very important debate. We established a whole new structure to get the best possible strategic advice and to strengthen our engagement on the ground. We set up a dedicated department. We also revitalised and strengthened the nation's network of 55 regional development committees, and we not only provided $4.3 billion for regional health, hospitals, education, infrastructure and skills development programs but also put in place the programs and mechanisms that would enable local communities to find local solutions to local issues. By encouraging the regions to come up with creative solutions we get a better targeted and more efficient result on the ground, and that is good for those communities and good for our nation.

This is not the first time we have gone through a transition like this. The reforms of the eighties and nineties, in the days of Keating and Hawke, meant that Australia was fundamentally positioned as a more competitive and productive nation, and one which was starting to seriously engage with Asia. That foresight, in the face of all the challenges those reforms confronted, positioned Australia as the only developed economy in the world to have avoided the global recession. Often it was the regions that responded best to these challenges and learnt to diversify their economic base. Regions have not asked the government why they need to cut emissions; they have asked how they can do it. Our regions are already moving to a more sustainable future and have been doing so for some time, long before we announced the carbon price. I noticed the member for Farrer alluding to comments by the Premier of Victoria and also the Premier of New South Wales. They too have been making very baseless and dishonest claims in relation to the carbon pollution tax that we want to introduce because we know that it will change the behaviour of the world's worst emitters, particularly in our own country. I just want to remind the House that, in 2009, then opposition leader and now Premier, Mr Baillieu, said:

Carbon transition is one of the biggest issues that will face Victorian businesses and families over coming years, but I have no doubt that we will in a few years be living in a carbon-managed economy. We will have reduced our personal and industrial carbon footprints. I also have no doubt that in the very same way we have adapted to significant structural and legislative change in the past, there will come a time when it will simply be the norm. As I said previously, it will not be scary or a threat but just the way it is done.

The Victorian government's modelling does not include the key assistance measures we have put in place. We stand by the comprehensive independent modelling by federal Treasury. It projects the economy of Victoria will grow by 30 per cent by 2020 and by 162 per cent by 2050 with a carbon price in place. Apart from 1.6 million new jobs nationwide by 2020, it also shows Victoria will maintain strong growth under a carbon price, with the agricultural, construction and service industries growing by 120 per cent,170 per cent and 246 per cent respectively to 2050.

New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell has also exaggerated the impact the carbon tax will have on New South Wales. Claims by Mr O'Farrell that thousands of jobs would be lost across the Hunter and Illawarra regions due to the introduction of a carbon price are causing unnecessary and unjustified concerns about job security and future growth. Not only did Mr O'Farrell use dodgy numbers; he also failed to release information that shows that New South Wales in fact benefits from a carbon price.

Mr Husic interjecting—

Federal Treasury modelling shows employment will grow, with an extra 1.6 million jobs being created nationwide by 2020 under a carbon price. I appreciate the interjection by the member for Chifley, because he knows exactly what I am talking about—unlike Mr O'Farrell. Industries like coalmining and aluminium manufacturing, which are vital to the New South Wales economy and to regions like the Hunter and Illawarra, will continue to grow under a carbon price. The fact is that New South Wales will benefit from our move to a clean energy future, as will the whole of Australia. This opposition stands and sits condemned for its opposition to our carbon pollution tax. (Time expired)

See this speech in context