Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Gippsland for his MPI today. There are two issues that he has brought up in this MPI: the ute-and-car tax and the infrastructure vacuum that is now left in regional communities. There are two ministers involved in those two issues. I'm going to talk first about the Minister for Climate Change and Energy.

I would say to the backbenchers over there—especially the first-term backbenchers—that there is one minister I would be very nervous about if I were you: the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. If there was one minister that would potentially make you one-termers—and there are quite a few in competition for that role—it would be the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. Let's face it; that minister has form. If the issues weren't so serious, you could almost say he was a walking gift for the opposition, because this guy has form in making a mess of what he touches.

Let's go way back. I remember when he was the minister for immigration, and what a sad record he had as the minister for immigration. It was a sad record because it was a tragic record. There were the boats that came and the unfortunate deaths at sea. If you look at the statistics, it was worst when he was minister for immigration. So his dysfunction as a minister goes way back.

The member for Gippsland also raised the point that, when the Minister for Climate Change and Energy was shadow Treasurer and he was trying to bring in the changes to franking credits—and a couple of other things that were obviously going to be a disaster for the economy—he quite bravely and quite honestly gave the great advice of: 'If you don't like the policy that I am trying to bring in, don't vote for us.' And they didn't. So a great record there! Now he is the Minister for Climate Change and Energy.

What is he doing now that would make me very nervous if I were a backbencher in his government? Well, there are quite a few things, but let's start with the ute tax the member for Gippsland mentioned. I didn't make up these figures about the increase in the prices of utes and SUVs. These figures weren't made up by the member for Gippsland. These figures are coming from the car manufacturers—Toyota, Isuzu. I met a number of the manufacturers. This is them telling us that this is what is going to happen.

He hasn't showed us the modelling. I don't know if he showed you, but I would be asking him, 'How have you worked this out?' You can go to the car manufacturers and they will tell you why they think this is going to happen. They are saying that the implementation is too quick, that they won't meet what he wants them to meet and that, therefore, the fines or penalties will be passed on. And it's not just the car manufacturers. We import a lot of our cars from Thailand. When the Prime Minister of Thailand was in Melbourne at ASEAN, he said that the price of cars that they make and that they send to this country are going up. It's not me, and it's not the member for Gippsland. That is the Prime Minister of Thailand who said the price of what is sent to Australia and that we manufacture here in Australia is going up because of what this minister is doing. So first-termers, backbenchers, be very, very nervous about your Minister for Climate Change and Energy. He has form.

Let's go on to a couple of the other things he's responsible for. Some people have referred to him as 'Blackout Bowen'. Why have they referred to him as 'Blackout Bowen'? Because of his aggressive—I withdraw. Why do they say that? Again, the aggressiveness of the renewable energy targets he has set by 2030. We all like renewables, but there are technological issues with them about covering that percentage of the baseload. So, again, there's a disaster coming near you, and a lot of the time it's going to be caused by the Minister for Climate Change and Energy.

I will touch briefly on infrastructure. Again, if there were a prize for the person who is the biggest danger in your government, the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government would probably be in the top three most days. People in my community often come up to me now and say, 'I always get more motivated about politics when a Labor government comes in,' because they realise what a disaster they are, especially for regional Australia.

The member for Gippsland raised a couple of programs. My favourite—I don't know if he mentioned it—is the Stronger Communities Program. I think he did. It is a great program. None of you stood up for that. Shame on you for not doing that, because it was a great infrastructure program.

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