Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Mackellar for his question and commend him on his editorial on the weekend. This year under our government Australia will meet its 2020 Kyoto emissions reduction target. And we won't just meet it; we will beat it by 411 million tonnes, which is the equivalent of about 80 per cent of Australia's annual total national emissions. Labor sought to achieve that target when they were in government by having a carbon tax that they promised they wouldn't implement.

Ten years ago, when we were in opposition, we set out a plan as to how we would meet that 2020 target without a carbon tax. We took that plan 10 years out. We took it to the election and Australians endorsed the plan to reduce emissions without having a carbon tax. Today, the plan we outlined in opposition 10 years ago is the plan that has ensured that we've met our Kyoto agreements 10 years later, here in 2020. Also some 50 million tonnes on average lower per year are our emissions now than they were under the average of the Labor government. Renewable energy is at record levels in terms of investment, and electricity prices have fallen some 3½ per cent in the last year. We did this all without a carbon tax, and we did it all while at the same time increasing the number of jobs in this country by over 1½ million. We are taking the same balanced approach when it comes to meeting our 2030 commitments. It's a balanced plan that's about technology, not taxation; a plan that is investing in new technologies and energy sources like hydrogen, investing in the Snowy scheme, investing in hydropower in Tasmania and investing in transmission lines.

I'm asked about alternatives. Those opposite can't agree on what they want to do in 2030, so how can you trust them about what they want to do 30 years from now? How can you trust someone who hasn't been able to deliver a surplus in 30 years? And now they want to tell you what they want to do about emissions in 30 years! This Labor opposition is the same bill you couldn't afford at the last election and it's the same bill you can't afford now. They are reheats of the failed policies that were offered to the Australian people at the last election. At the last election our balanced plan was endorsed. Those opposite's plan was rejected, and it's the same reheat they're forcing on the Australian people now.

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