Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

[by video link] This week we saw the Prime Minister announce his 'plan' for net zero emissions. As a teacher, I had a good look at it. It did look like very much like a high-school PowerPoint presentation, but I had to give it a D. There was no new work and some secret, perhaps fanciful modelling. It was, basically slack slide shows and slick slogans, which isn't easy to say.

What do we know about it so far? We know that the Prime Minister said the word 'plan' at least 80 times during his slide presentation, we know that it includes zero new policies and we know that it includes zero actual modelling, modelling that hasn't even been written yet. We know that this is a desperate attempt by the Prime Minister to cobble together an announcement before he jets off to Glasgow tonight. We know that the Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Nationals, and the guy who'll be the Prime Minister tonight, the member for New England, does not support a net zero target by 2050. We know that the Deputy Leader of the Nationals, Senator Bridget McKenzie, does not support net zero by 2050. And we know that the Minister for Resources and Water, the guy who got the new pay upgrade, the Nationals member for Hinkler, does not support a net zero target by 2050. As Nikki Savva said in her column today, the Prime Minister's PowerPoint show was 'a headline searching for a story', and around the world analysts have been scathing of the Prime Minister's announcement. Major international media outlets have labelled it 'hollow' and 'hard to believe'. CNN's headline read, 'Australia will be the rich world's weakest link at COP26 with hollow net zero emissions pledges.' CNN goes on to say:

… in reality, Morrison will go to COP26, reluctantly, with the weakest climate plan among the G20's developed nations.

The BBC tweeted that it was 'a big announcement with very little detail'. The New York Times headline was 'Australia pledges "net zero" emissions by 2050. It's plan makes that hard to believe,' and it went on to say:

The country's last-minute commitment before next week's climate summit is built on hope for new technology, and little else.

The Washington Post joined the international chorus of despair at the Morrison announcement. They quoted climate experts who said that the government was 'kicking the can down the road' and that the plan 'would do little to change the international perception of Australia as a climate laggard'.

How could this nation, our nation, the nation of Doc Evatt and the United Nations, of Bob Hawke and the Antarctic Treaty and of Keating and APEC be an international laggard? I can't remember Australia being criticised so harshly in the international press before. What's at stake here, apart from the very existence of our planet? The environmental threats to Australia will increase, and then there will be economic threats like green trade tariffs. Our international reputation is on the line. I am a proud Australian. Australia has a proud history on the international stage: Doc Evatt, the president of the UN General Assembly from 1948 to 1949—a guy who helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; Bob Hawke and Paul Keating; even John Howard's gun control laws; Kevin Rudd's apology—all those wonderful achievements on the international stage. Now we are known internationally as a pariah when it comes to climate change.

The Prime Minister claims his commitment to net zero by 2050 is 'the Australian way'. But it is actually 'the Morrison government way'—to divide, to fearmonger, to take credit for the work of the states and to pretend it's somebody else's job if it's hard. So many slogans, so little substance. 'The Australian way' that I believe in is to punch above our weight, to have integrity and to be ambitious about what we can achieve, as Australian leaders of all parties did repeatedly before this Prime Minister came along and started occupying the Lodge.

Australians should refuse to be dragged down by the Liberal and National parties. Australia deserves a government that believes in a commitment to net zero emissions by 2050. An Albanese government will have policies that will make such climate commitments a reality; we will not be crossing our fingers and praying. We will be a government that understands that the world's climate emergency is Australia's jobs opportunity. Right now we have a Prime Minister who said electric vehicles would 'end the weekend' and compared battery storage in South Australia to the Big Banana and the Big Prawn. We've got a Deputy Prime Minister who doesn't even want to commit to net zero emissions by 2050, and he will be in charge tonight.

Australia can be a superpower when it comes to renewable energy. Australia has the most solar coverage of any continent on the earth. We've got a long coastline and an abundance of wind to harness for energy generation. Australia needs an Albanese government, which will harness Australia's natural renewable energy resources to create jobs and cut power bills here in Australia.

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