Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm proud to stand to speak on the fact that this is a very momentous week in Australia's history, and that is because Australia is aiming to meet net zero emissions by 2050, and we're going to do that the Australian way. We are going to act in a practical, responsible way to reduce emissions while preserving Australian jobs and taking advantage of the new opportunities that this green future is going to offer to Australia and to the world. And we're going to do that because we know the practicalities of it. This is about practical plans, not wishful thinking. This is about getting the job done, not hoping you can get the job done. This is about a plan that brings the Australian people with us. It's a plan that incorporates both the environmental concerns of bringing down emissions and the economic concerns where we need cheap, affordable, reliable and secure energy.

Australia has benefited for over a century on cheap energy supply, but it's now time for us to develop a new, green, cheap energy supply not just for us but for the world. And, if you look at the work that this government has done in the last 2½ years since I've been elected, there's been an enormous amount of work on a plan.

In fact, I was asked on the ABC in October 2019 what my view of a target was. At that time I said that I'm not interested in a target until I know what the plan is. There is no point in talking about a target without a plan, but that is what we are seeing from the other side. There is a conversation about a target, about what that target may or may not be, but there's nothing about the plan. A target without a plan is completely useless. Every mother knows that. Every father knows that. Every business knows that. Every institution knows that. Every industry knows that. We need a plan that's reliable and affordable and the elements of which we know.

Our plan is based on five key principles. It's about technology. The scientists and engineers of the world are working day and night to solve the problems of energy for the world. We know there is no silver bullet. We know that we're going to have a diversified energy portfolio. We can see that in our five stretch targets, which have now become six stretch targets. The sort of debate I would like to see here on the floor is a debate about the diversified technology portfolio that we are developing. We're developing it knowing that we need to have affordable hydrogen. We know that hydrogen could be the firming power of our future. At the moment, it's going to be gas in our transition to a renewable future. We know that the sun and wind are great for Australia. We know that when the sun shines and the wind blows we've got plentiful energy, but we do need to have a firming capacity. That means that, when there is a wind drought, as there has been in the UK recently, or when it's overnight and the sun has gone down, we need to have more battery storage than for just an hour or so, which batteries can only provide currently, or we need to have some firming power, which might be gas for peaking gas stations, or hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, it will be supplied by hydrogen. If we can get green hydrogen to under $2 a kilogram, it will be incredibly commercialisable and scalable. That's what Professor Alan Finkel, the former Chief Scientist has been helping us to back in with an investment of more than $1.2 billion in clean hydrogen. I was visiting this morning the clean hydrogen hubs that we're seeing already sprouting here in the ACT. We have views on ultra low-cost solar; on energy storage; on low-emission steel and aluminium and even green cement; on carbon capture and storage; and, of course, on soil carbon measurement.

That is in stark contrast to those sitting on the benches opposite, because all they can talk about is targets and legislation. All they can talk about is the mechanisms of politics, not the realities of the plan. The Australian people need an authentic conversation, which means that we understand that you are the people—not you, Deputy Speaker O'Brien, but those who are listening—who are going to have to work to make sure that your clean energy future is going to help us get to where we need to get to.

The plan on the other side hasn't been talked about at all. Will they legislate taxes? Will their plan impact on manufacturing because energy prices have gone up? Is their approach going to be at any cost—a blank cheque? What I'm afraid of from those on the other side is that they are back-seat drivers in this energy debate. They are sour about the fact that they are not in the driver's seat. The Morrison government is in the driver's seat. They are in the back seat and are moaning about the direction, but in their heart of hearts the Labor Party and those on the opposite side know that we are going in the right direction. We know that Australia's future is certain with the Morrison government.

See this speech in context