Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I hear the member say that there is nothing wrong with the reef. Well, I would urge him to go and have a look at parts of the reef that are bleached beyond recognition, with scientists almost in tears saying that we have had two bleaching episodes in consecutive years. It is not good enough to just say that your own bit of the reef is okay; have a look at the whole reef. I urge members to have a look at it, because if that is what is driving this government, that tells you all you need to know.

The members must hate their constituents, because they want to push up their power prices. Wholesale power prices have doubled under the Liberal-Nationals government since they came to power. Since they abolished the carbon price, wholesale power prices have doubled. They say it is the fault of states, because they have renewable energy targets. And do you know where the worst power price rises have been? In new South Wales, where they have had Liberal governments in power—where they have had a state Liberal government and a federal Liberal government. That is where wholesale power prices have gone up the most. Why? Because this government has been more interested in waging war on renewables than on having a proper energy policy, and, as a result, power prices are going up.

We hear all this talk about the need to build these ultra-efficient so-called clean coal power stations. 'Clean coal' is a bit like dry water—it does not exist. But they come in here and tell us they will build those. At a minimum, it is $134 a megawatt hour to build one of those. Meanwhile, the cost of building a new wind power station is $75. A new solar power station, again, is coming down to around the same price, according to AGL. So, there is the option of building new power stations in Australia, which we are going to need to do, and they are coming in here and saying, 'Let's build the most expensive one'—at least $134 a megawatt hour. Add in this fantasy of carbon capture and storage and the price is going to go north of that.

So, the Liberals and Nationals must hate their constituents, if they are advocating this, because not only is it a death sentence for the reef but it is a recipe for higher power prices, it is a recipe for worse droughts and it is a recipe for cyclones that are more intense when they hit. There are only two ways we are going to see new coal-fired power stations built in this country. One is if we do what the minister, Senator Canavan, says, and that is subsidise them. Recently in the Financial Review he made an extraordinary admission, and that is that coal is a loss maker. He said that the only way we have got coalmines and coal-fired power stations off the ground is with heavy government subsidies, and he is calling for more of them. What an admission, from the minister for resources, that coal loses you money: not only is it bad for the planet; not only do coal-fired power stations, if we were to build new ones, push up power process, but they lose you money. And he is saying, instead of that, 'Let's tip in $1 billion to build the Adani coalmine.' Well, what absolute economic lunacy, as well as environmental vandalism.

But there is a second way that a new coal-fired power station might be built in this country, and that is associated with the Adani mine. We know they want to attach a coal-fired power station to the Adani mine. Well, it is no surprise at all that the LNP wants to come in here and spruik it. But what is even more concerning is that the Queensland Labor government is saying, 'Let's back the Adani coalmine and potentially a new coal-fired power station that comes with it.' There is one thing that could be done right now to kill off the Adani mine once and for all. It is what Premier Daniel Andrews did in Victoria when he came out and said if he won the next election he would rip up the East West Link contracts after the Greens pushed for that for a long time. So now should the Leader of the Opposition come out and say very, very clearly that there will be no coalmine. It is time to stop Labor's Adani mine. We need to put an end to it. There is a very simple way that that could be done—that is, the Leader of the Opposition coming out and saying he will not back it if he is in power. (Time expired)

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