Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think I've scratched an itch!

When I read this motion, I thought to myself, 'Pinch yourself, Tony; you're still dreaming.' The suggestion of those opposite is that our government has abandoned the Australian resources industry and jobs. I am pretty clear that that hasn't happened, but I will tell you what did happen. It's not something I determined; the people of Australia determined it in 2019. The blue collar workers in the Australian resources industry in 2019 had a decision to make, and they made it pretty clear. They made it in Western Australia in droves. They made it in Queensland in droves. We had one proposal where our government said we'd reduce emissions by 26 to 28 per cent, meet Kyoto I and II and ultimately put ourselves on a path to meet and beat our targets in Paris. We had the member for Maribyrnong leading the Australian Labor Party with a target to reduce emissions by 45 per cent. Ultimately, those in the Australian resources sector said, 'No, thank you,' because the Australian resources sector and the blue collar workers that work within it are incredibly intelligent people. They knew what rushing to that kind of reduction target meant.

This debate isn't about emissions reductions. It's actually about the speed at which we get there. Those opposite at the last election wanted to rush to that outcome. If you want to rush to that outcome, the only tool you've got in your toolbox is a tax. If, on the other hand, you want to put yourself on a sensible trajectory, you give yourself more time to adopt technology based solutions. I suggest to those opposite that, whenever mankind has been faced with a challenge over its history, we have solved that problem using technology because, every time we try to solve that problem with a tax, it fails. The reality here is that this is a technology based solution or nothing, and we need to adopt that approach.

Those opposite bemoan us for achieving our Kyoto I target, achieving our Kyoto II target—and, by the way, those opposite don't even have a 2030 policy. They don't have a target for 2030. In fairness, this motion should say, 'We congratulate the government for being about actions and outcome, as opposed to those opposite, who are about froth and bubble.' But that's the point, isn't it? They've always been about froth and bubble. They didn't care that the mining resources rent tax didn't raise a cracker, because it sounded good in the pages of the Age and the Guardian. They weren't focused on outcomes. We are focused on outcomes. I can tell you who else is focused on outcomes: the blue collar workers of this country, not just in the Australian resources sector but right across the spectrum. They have got an incredibly attuned radar for froth and bubble and, when they hear it in the lead-up to an election, they say, 'No, thank you'.

I'm really pleased that those opposite have decided that they are for the Australian resources industry once again. It's a quantum change. We've been away from this place for some time, but you might recall that, the last time we were here, there were discussions about the Leader of the Opposition slinking his way very privately and confidentially into a coalmine. They weren't that proud about that situation then. The people of Australia get this. They don't judge people on what people say. People in my electorate say, 'Tony, we will judge you on what you do, not what you say.' Those opposite need to realise that the people of Australia are making those judgements right now. It's what you do; not what you say. It's not what target you'd like to achieve—or, for those opposite, what target you don't have. It's what target is set and you beat—what target you meet and beat. Those opposite don't even have a target, and they want to come in here and lecture us about our achievements—Kyoto 1, Kyoto 2 and on the trajectory for Paris. (Time expired)

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