Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I recall the comments I was making on that day. I was down in Adelaide, and I was talking about how the battery technology at that time, that large battery, would have been able to charge all the television sets in Adelaide for no more and wouldn't get you through one episode of Australia's Ninja Warrior. The point I was making was that what we need in this country is long-duration storage, which is why we are investing in projects like Snowy Hydro 2.0.

Of course we should invest in battery technology. It's part of our low-emissions technology plan to get us to net zero by 2050. But those opposite are kidding themselves if they think that is going to keep the aluminium smelters at Portland or at Tomago firing up. I'll tell you what's going to help those. What's going to help those, in particular, is the work that we've invested in through Snowy Hydro to ensure there's a gas-fired power plant at Kurri Kurri. And do you know who's opposed to that in the Hunter? The Labor Party—the Labor Party and the Greens working together to work against Australians having affordable, reliable power. They don't want to see the gas; they want to turn the gas off on Australian industry.

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