Greg Combet (Charlton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change, Industry and Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Deputy Speaker. The government, of course, as has been well articulated, is committed to developing a clean energy future and at the same time ensuring a strong and prosperous economy with very strong policies and the support of industry and innovation.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 16:1 6 to 16:29

When proceedings were suspended, I was just about to remark that, since the last appropriations in the portfolio areas, the government have brought together the functions of climate change and industry and innovation into the overall department. Climate change, of course, is an important part of the government's policy agenda. It is an environmental problem which requires an economic solution, and that is why we have merged the responsibility for climate change policy into the department responsible for driving innovation and industry policy in the economy. The need to reduce carbon pollution and to transform the economy to compete in a low carbon global economy will be the key drivers of Australia's industrial structure.

The evidence is clear that the carbon price is working: emissions are down and renewable energy is up, and the economy is remaining strong. It is worth putting on the record, I think, that, since the carbon price started on 1 July last year, emissions in the National Electricity Market are down 7.4 per cent, renewable energy generation is up almost 30 per cent, the economy is growing, and today's national accounts figures show that real GDP has grown at an annualised rate of 2.5 per cent since the carbon price started. That means that our economy has expanded by 14 per cent since Labor was elected in 2007. More than 150,000 new jobs have been created since carbon pricing commenced. Inflation remains contained at 2.5 per cent, the midpoint of the RBA target range. Millions of households have been assisted with tax cuts, increases in family tax benefits and higher pensions and allowances, and the impact on the cost of living has been lower than expected. That means that the assistance has gone further in helping low- and middle-income earners to make ends meet.

The fact is that the clean energy policies we have implemented are environmentally effective; they are economically responsible; and they are socially fair. Reducing the emissions intensity of the economy, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per unit of economic output, is in fact critical to Australia's future competitiveness and to the integrity of our trading relationships. Our trading partners want to see what Australia is doing while they are also taking action on climate change. We are the 12th largest economy in the world. We are the 15th largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and we are the largest emitter of greenhouse gases per person amongst all of the advanced economies. It is fantasy to believe that our trading partners, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, have no interest in Australia tackling the issue of climate change in partnership with them. The policy of the alternative government, of course, is to do nothing, in essence—nothing.

The government also supports jobs and growth in the economy. We support manufacturing with a strong set of policies. We understand that you cannot have a strong economy without a strong and sustainable manufacturing sector that employs nearly one million Australians across the country in well-paid, high-skilled jobs. We are acutely aware that the sector is facing challenges from the high value of the Australian dollar and intense import competition. To deal with those pressures, the government is investing a billion dollars to support and grow jobs.

Our plan released in February, A Plan for Australian Jobs, has three core strategies: backing Australian firms to win more work at home; supporting Australian industry to innovate, increase exports and win business abroad; and helping Australian SMEs to grow and create new jobs. The whole package builds on the support we have delivered in many sectors already, including measures like the Steel Transformation Plan, with $300 million to support steelworkers' jobs; the $5.4 billion New Car Plan, supporting the auto-manufacturing sector; and $1.2 billion in clean technology investment programs helping to transform the energy efficiency and emissions intensity of the manufacturing sector. All of these policies are funded in the budget announced in May. All of them are very important for tackling both climate change and the economic challenges the country has.

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