Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Safeguard Mechanism (Crediting) Amendment Bill 2022 is a critical bill. Let's be clear: if you vote for this bill, then you're in favour of acting on climate change and cutting emissions. If you vote for this bill, you're in favour of saving 205 million tonnes of emissions to 2030; that's the equivalent of taking two-thirds of the Australian car fleet off the roads. If you vote for this bill, you're in favour of investment certainty so business can get on and actually reduce emissions. But if you vote against this bill then you're against real action on climate change and cutting emissions, like the LNP over there. We're not allowed to call them the 'no-alition'. If you vote against this bill then you're the enemy of progress. You're more interested in protest than progress, like the Australian Greens political party that skulk over there. If you vote against this bill then you're prepared to sit by and let Australia's emissions rise by 20 per cent, rather than supporting a cut of 43 per cent by 2030 and a move towards net zero. (Quorum formed) Stunts and tantrums are us over there for the rest of the day, it looks like.

These reforms are the first chance for a decade to implement transformative climate action that actually gets us towards net zero, after a decade of delay, dysfunction, dithering and decay. The LNP have made themselves irrelevant in this debate—let's be very clear—by just saying no, no, no—no to action on climate change. That's despite calls from right across industry for bipartisan support for investment certainty and despite the fact that this is their mechanism that we're using. They've even found a way now to vote against themselves. They've voting no to themselves now. This is their mechanism that the government's putting forward. They are doing this despite the scientific advice and just days after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's latest report was released, which should be sobering. It underscores the need for action on climate change after a decade of dithering, talk and discussion. But they struggle to understand science, Deputy Speaker. They struggle to understand the economic imperative for business certainty. They even struggle to understand words. Sometimes, when we say that, they say, 'Well, they're just words.' What else would they like? Well, pictures, actually. We can illustrate the point with pictures. If the words and the arguments don't give the argument, look, there's a picture. Remember him? That's the old member for North Sydney, Trent Zimmerman. What happened to him? Oh, he lost his seat to a teal.

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