Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Within one day of his being elected leader of the Liberal Party and being sworn in as Prime Minister, we have seen some major sell-outs by this new leader. What this shows is that changing the leader changes nothing about this government's policies on climate change or the environment, but it goes right to the heart of this new leader and the fact that he will sell out, any chance he gets, any opportunity he gets.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister promised 'traditional cabinet government' that included making decisions in a 'thoughtful and considered manner'. Yet, within hours of being sworn in, the new Prime Minister had already bypassed his own cabinet, and he was making desperate deals—with who? With the National Party, the Nationals, who are in fact the greatest environmental vandals we have ever seen. Handing the Nationals the water portfolio and refusing to take real action on climate change are the some of the dirty deals the Prime Minister has done to get his job. It is a very serious blow to the Prime Minister's credibility on the environment, and it shows that in fact he is just a hypocrite—a hypocrite who would do any deal to become Prime Minister. The fact is that he just cannot be trusted, and Australians know that he cannot be trusted. They know that is a fact.

We have a situation now where the Nationals, the greatest environmental vandals, have the greatest say about climate change policy and environmental policy. We also know that the Prime Minister has promised the right-wing extremists in his own party and the National Party that he will not change the former Prime Minister's policy on climate change. We know that.

The now Prime Minister once called Direct Action a 'farce' and a 'recipe for fiscal recklessness on a grand scale', but, yesterday, what did he do? He pledged to support it. He sold out on climate change action to become Prime Minister, and now he is paying big polluters to pollute. It is truly shameful. When asked about Direct Action in question time, the Prime Minister reiterated his support, saying, 'The policy we have in place is very clearly costed and calibrated, and it is effecting reductions in emissions now and at a very low cost.' Well, according to RepuTex, under Direct Action, Australia's biggest polluters will increase their pollution levels by 20 per cent over the next 15 years. That is the fact. Having previously acknowledged how hopeless Direct Action is, the Prime Minister now is clearly pushing it. What a change. What a hypocrite.

Also, today in question time we had the Leader of the Opposition asking the Prime Minister about renewable energy and asking him to support our policy of 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030. What was his response to that? It was a 'reckless proposal'. He just disregarded it. Well, he has sold out again. First of all he sells out on climate change, then he sells out on renewable energy. I further note, in looking at some of the motions at the Nationals federal conference on the weekend, that there was one in relation to renewables. I note that, at their federal conference on the weekend, the National Party actually—

Mr Conroy interjecting—

Yes, most of them are here today. They actually voted down a motion to support renewables and projects in regional centres. The National Party voted down a motion to support renewables and projects in regional centres! It sounds a bit like what the Prime Minister was saying today, echoing what the National Party were saying, voting down and disregarding any action on renewables.

As I have mentioned many times before in this House, we have Liberal and National parties who, at every level, whether it is federal or state, are absolute and complete environmental vandals. Nothing has changed about that. I would like to remind the House that, when the now Prime Minster was the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources in 2007, he had a plan to build a massive dam at Tyalgum, a lovely small village in my electorate of Richmond, on the New South Wales North Coast. This would have destroyed the village and surrounds, and it would have been an environmental disaster.

I remind the House that in 2007 I put questions to the minister calling on him to rule out the proposal for this huge dam and he responded by saying, 'All options should be on the table in order to find the most cost-effective means to supply this water.' He ignored the concerns of our community, and the community were outraged at the environment minister and they have never forgotten this betrayal. It was only the election of a Labor government that stopped these cruel, harsh plans, but locals remember what happened, they blame the now Prime Minister for that and they also blame the National Party for wanting to build that huge dam.

If our new Prime Minister is willing to sacrifice on climate policy, what else has he sacrificed; what other price has he paid; who else has he sold out? Clearly he has also sold out on marriage equality. He has refused to have a free vote in this House. That is another disgraceful act by this Prime Minister, a disgraceful act of betrayal by not allowing a free vote in this House on marriage equality. It just shows one thing: it is the same old Liberal-National party, the same old policies. The same old environmental vandals are here. What we have now is, yes, a new Prime Minister but a Prime Minister who has sold out. What else has he sold out on? The fact is he cannot be trusted, and Australians know that.

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