Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

The member opposite can interject as much as he likes. In fact, he's welcome any time to come to Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley. I'll take him round. We can meet with some of those workers and ask them what they think about Labor's policies in relation to energy in our region. I invite any of those members opposite to come and join me. We'll go round the power stations and talk to people about their views on the Labor Party's efforts to sell out their jobs in the search for green votes in the city. Those opposite have gone quiet because they know it's true. There was a 20 per cent drop in their primary vote in the state seat. As the National Party in that seat, we receive a primary vote in the order of 50 per cent in many towns in the Latrobe Valley.

I'll make just one other point. There's actually no Australian solution to climate change. We emit less than two per cent of total global emissions, so there's no Australian solution. We do need to do our share to meet the emissions reduction targets, but there is no Australian solution. It is misleading to our young people to suggest there is. We don't need to mug our economy. We don't need to punish households. We don't need to set unrealistic targets that drive investment offshore and shut down our manufacturing sector, which, I'm afraid, is the Labor Party's plan for energy policy in this country.

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