Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Hansard source

That's 7,000 megawatts in the last year alone on new renewables, dominated by small-scale solar, and we have the highest amount of those installations in the world.

Those opposite like to crow about their achievements when they were last in government. Their greatest achievement was the carbon tax. But let me tell you: we've provided 7,000 megawatts in renewables in one year, which is more than the entire time when Labor were in government. Indeed, the year before, it was 6,300 megawatts in a single year, which is, again, more than the entire time that Labor were in government. We've deployed renewables eight times faster than the global per person average and four times faster than Europe or the US. We are getting on with the job.

When I was a teenager, the first cassette I ever bought was Billy Joel's Greatest Hits. It included great songs, like 'Piano Man'. But the best stuff I've seen lately isn't Billy Joel's Greatest Hits; it's Joel's greatest hits! Just across Lake Macquarie from the member for Shortland he's getting missiles on a daily basis. He said recently:

… after 14 years of trying, the Labor Party has made not one contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in this country.

The member for Hunter doesn't agree with the member for Shortland's rendition of the world, but he goes further than that. Again, across Lake Macquarie, he sent a little missile. The member for Hunter has rightly pointed out that the member for McMahon's decision to vote against the government's ARENA expansion is just plain 'stupid policy and stupid politics'. Labor doesn't listen to him, though. Last month on 2GB, the member for Hunter said:

… Labor should just back whatever the government puts on the table. To do otherwise is to suggest we are not genuinely committed to action on climate change. And we've got to back the things the government is prepared to support, from renewables right through to carbon capture and storage.

But, again, sadly and tragically, Labor didn't listen. So we get more hits from Joel! In May, he warned that the 'excessive progressives think they can afford to cut the coalminers loose and still win'. But, again, they didn't listen.

The member for McMahon and the member for Shortland think that they know best. The member for McMahon has bragged about being the key architect of Labor's failed climate policies that they took to the last election. He, of course, has never seen a tax he didn't like. I suspect the member for Shortland hasn't seen a tax he didn't like. The member for McMahon loved Labor's original carbon tax. When he was Treasurer, it got to the highest level it had ever got to. He was the Treasurer when that happened. You name it; he'll tax it, and that includes carbon. The difference is, on this side of the place, we're for technology, not taxes.

You only need to look at their efforts in the last few months to see all of this in action. We've seen their opposition to technologies they don't like. One of them, of course, is carbon capture and storage. The member for Hunter has pointed out that those on his side need to start backing this technology. Indeed, he had to write an AFR opinion editorial—

Mr Conroy interjecting—

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