Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Fremantle for his question and recognise his long career of advocacy and action on climate change. The Albanese government was elected to take action on climate change, and that's exactly what we've been doing. On 16 June, the Prime Minister and I notified the United Nations of the country's new climate target of 43 per cent. We were accompanied by the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Australian Industry Group and peak climate groups representing this Prime Minister's determination to bring Australians together on this important national challenge.

We've taken other action, of course. We've put ARENA to work on the task it was created for, changing the regulations so it focuses on renewable energy—that's what the R stands for: renewable energy! We've issued regulations to reduce the amount of sulphur in our petrol, which is better for our health and environment. Internationally, I've signed an agreement with Secretary Granholm, the US Secretary of Energy, on a zero emissions task force. We will ensure, and have ensured, that the Australian carbon credit market operates with integrity and is seen to operate with integrity, which the previous government ignored. That's what we've been doing.

Of course, today was the next step. On behalf of the government, I introduced the government's climate bill. This is important. It enshrines those targets in law. It provides the framework for investment. That's what the business community wants. That's why the Business Council has called for the legislation to be passed. That's why the Chamber of Commerce and Industry has called for the legislation to be passed. They know that this is necessary. But there are some in this House who think they know more about business than the Business Council—mainly the Leader of the Opposition. Without seeing the bill, referring it to his shadow cabinet or taking it to his party room, he announced that they were against the bill. He'd heard enough—it was action on climate change, and he was against it! He'd heard enough.

This is the decade of denial and delay that they want to continue. We had 22 energy policies, and they couldn't land one. They couldn't deliver what they announced. The previous minister for energy promised almost a billion dollars of new generation. They didn't deliver one watt! The minister for energy under the previous government could not deliver enough to boil a kettle! As we've heard, on 6 April he amended the industry code for energy retailers so that they hid a 19.7 per cent energy price rise. I wonder if that had anything to do with the election called four days later! We've got a lot to do. There's been a decade of denial and delay. We haven't got a second to waste, and nor are we going to waste one.

See this speech in context