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

That is what this would permit: the government having some form of ownership stake in, for example, the expansion of the Beetaloo. The amendment would also allow—and this is why the amendment has to be opposed—the government to take some form of ownership stake in, say, an expansion of new gas projects in the Galilee. Not content with supporting the Adani mine, they now want to get some gas, potentially, out of there as well. It would also allow the government to take an ownership stake in new coal projects.

Government members: Hooray!

The government cheers this. By virtue of this amendment—which, I again repeat, the Labor Party is about to vote for and has gagged debate on in the Senate so that we could not debate this in the Senate; this is the first time this amendment is being debated—and as the government cheers, we are talking about publicly funded coal and gas. We are talking about, with this amendment, taking public money that could be going to schools and hospitals and using it for new coal and gas projects. The government cheers, and the Labor Party is about to vote for it.

Up until this amendment was brought before this House—we didn't find out when we were in the Senate, because Liberal and Labor did a dirty deal to gag debate on this—we thought that the Labor Party's position was also not to use public money for new coal and gas projects. Up until today, they had told us that was their position. But then, in the Senate this afternoon, we find this amendment being rammed through with no debate allowed from the Greens or the crossbench. The opposition come in here and complain about the government gagging them and shutting down debate. Well, that's exactly what you did today. On the day when we're about to hear a budget reply speech, supposedly about how great renewables are, they have just gagged debate and are supporting a bill that will go through that will allow the government—cheered on right now—to have public investment in new coal and gas projects.

Government members: Hear, hear!

I hear, 'Hear, hear!' from the government benches. That is why this amendment must be opposed. Even if you think that government's taking an ownership stake in a new coal and gas plant is a terrific idea, as the government and Labor clearly think you should, this amendment says not only that the government can do it but that they can do it without having to have the kinds of written agreements that are required for other forms of investment. If you thought sports rorts was bad, wait till you see coal rorts and gas rorts. That is what is being enabled.

This infrastructure facility as it stands at the moment is a slush fund, and this amendment gives the government even more leeway to dip their hands into the pockets of the Australian public, take money and give it to coal and gas infrastructure and corporations without even having to have the most basic principles of accountability. This amendment not only facilitates public money going to coal and gas but gives the government the capacity to not even have to tell the public how they're going to spend the money and what the terms and conditions of that investment are. This is astounding. This is an astounding diversion. It's a redirection away from accountability. It is a total abrogation of any kind of accountability and transparency. I repeat: the reason that we are here now, talking about this at length in this House—we were meant to rise at six o'clock, but they thought they'd try and sneak this through at the last moment—is that debate on this amendment and on this bill was gagged in the Senate.

I don't want to hear any more from the opposition about how bad it is that the government are investing in coal and gas when it is enabling it. That is what you are doing with this amendment and this bill, Labor. You are allowing the NAIF—just this week you have been in the press complaining about the minister and about how he doesn't have any restrictions on his actions and how he vetoes renewables. You are now giving him a blank cheque to go and buy coal-fired power stations and generation without any accountability. (Time expired)

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