Pat Conroy (Charlton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister has mentioned BA Santamaria four times. He has mentioned bananas three times, bikes six times and apples 10 times. So, in the Prime Minister's mind, apples are three times as important to this country as renewables, which I think will give some heart to the Nationals but probably not to anyone else in this country.

That is the sad pity of where this debate is. Those on the other side have presided over the greatest investment strike in renewable power ever seen. As the shadow minister mentioned, there has been an 88 per cent decline, falling from $2.7 billion under Labor to less than $200 million. We have fallen from 11th in the world to the 39th, putting us behind that paragon of renewable power investment, Myanmar. The Burmese generals get it; Australia does not get it, unfortunately. This is all under a government instituting Direct Action; something that has produced a $66 carbon price. The real tragedy of all of this is that it is not my generation that will suffer; it is my kids' generation and my grandkids'. If we do not take action and transition to the lowest possible cost, they will suffer. We will face carbon tariffs; we will face a rust belt economy where we cannot compete because we will be too carbon intensive—and my region will suffer more than most.

I am proud to have the biggest power station in the country. I am proud to have four coalmines still operational. I am proud to have the CSIRO's clean energy flagship in the Hunter region. We can lead this country as a clean energy hub, but we need good investment from a government that accepts the science of climate change and that accepts the good economic policy of an emissions trading scheme and renewable energy industry policies. That is the way forward—not their aggressive, reactionary, DLP, BA Santamaria rhetoric that will condemn them throughout history as reactionaries who led Australia down the wrong path and condemned future generations to being the poor white trash of Asia.

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