Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to second this motion, and I commend the member for Warringah for bringing it to the House, and I do so as a representative of a rural and regional Australian electorate. It is time to debate and vote on this bill, a bill which sets out a clear framework through which we can pursue a bright economic agenda in regional Australia in response to climate change. This bill sets out in law a commitment that the vast majority of Australians support—that we will decarbonise our economy by the middle of the century.

The government told us this week that, finally, it has committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050. What this bill does is require that the government of the day, whether it be this government, the next government or any government that follows, has detailed plans to meet legislated emissions reduction targets. That's why it is so important. It gives our nation confidence that any government—this one or those that follow—will do this. I worked closely with the member for Warringah to make sure this bill would actually deliver for rural and regional Australians in a transparent way, not in a secret way and not in a fingers-crossed-and-let's-hope-we-make-it kind of way.

I've inserted a regional economic safeguard mechanism that requires the new climate commission to make sure that regional Australia secures an equitable share of the economic benefits of a net zero transition, and we have just heard the member for Warringah lay out so articulately what those possibilities are for economic growth. I've also inserted a regions-first clause that requires the climate commission to implement a strategy to maximise the economic benefits for rural and regional Australia in the transition to net zero. I want rural and regional Australians to listen and think about this, because this gives us the guarantees that the government is not giving us right now. The Business Council of Australia estimates, as the member for Warringah just told us, there could be $890 billion on the table for us to be better off with a net zero economy. This bill would ensure that the regions maximise their share of that incredible opportunity before us. I've also inserted a regions-at-the-table rule that says that the board of the new climate commission must have expertise in regional development. This is the bill we should be debating and voting on today. This is the bill that would take us to Glasgow with credibility. More importantly, it would take us to the future with certainty.

Regional Australians have every right to feel completely let down by the coalition government right now. The economic opportunities for regional Australia from the growth of zero carbon industries are simply enormous. The government promised a detailed plan to capture that opportunity, but yesterday the Prime Minister gave us no such plan. The Prime Minister seemingly announced nothing at all for the regions—zero new policies, zero new investments and zero new opportunities for regional Australia. They've had eight years in power to figure this out. The parliament could legislate this bill today. Members on all sides could vote today if they wanted to. Australia is lagging at the back of the pack when it comes to climate action, and now we are not even at the starting line when it comes to clarity and certainty. Right now, farmers in Germany own 10 per cent of all renewable energy generation—10 per cent! The first loads of green steel have already rolled off production lines in the factories of Sweden! Tesla's Gigafactory in the USA is already churning out lithium-ion batteries and employing 10,000 people in the process. This could be happening right here, right now. This really distresses me.

If we pass this bill, and others like it—like my Australian Local Power Agency Bill that's sitting before this parliament too—there could be regional Australian industries and regional Australian jobs, but these opportunities are sailing right by us, because this government is incapable of offering up detailed economic plans for our regions. There is no plan to make sure regional Australians see the benefits in the renewable energy boom that's coming. There is no plan to help the timber mills of my electorate to transition off gas and onto cheap renewables. There is no plan to guarantee that bushfire affected communities in my electorate will have community batteries and energy security. The National Party has struck a secret deal with the Liberals over this issue, and, apparently, they have nothing to say for regional communities beyond a Productivity Commission review. I welcome a review, but it is neither a plan nor a blueprint for regional Australia. I commend this motion.

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