Ged Kearney (Cooper, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Net Zero Economy Authority Bill 2024 and the Net Zero Economy Authority (Transitional Provisions) Bill 2024. This legislation is historic. It is historic because it marks an opportunity for Australia in the face of the existential crisis that is climate change. It is historic because, if we seize this moment, if we take this opportunity, Australia can become a renewable energy superpower, one that not only produces clean energy for our communities and for export but creates new industries and jobs for all. It's historic because workers and their unions, community groups and climate organisations have been fighting for this for decades—because everyday working people should not be left behind or disadvantaged while we recharge our economy with renewable energy. Rather, they should profit and benefit from that change. More than anything, this bill is historic because it represents our future.

It goes without saying that the current moment represents a critical juncture for the world. In Australia, the effects of climate change are already being felt—scorching heat across our summers, tropical diseases heading south and longer bushfire seasons. From north to south, east to west, we're seeing extreme weather events just about every week—floods, fire, cyclones and drought. While our own shorelines are being flooded with higher and higher king tides, we know that the changing climate is also impacting our region. With sea levels rising in the Pacific, island homes could be washed away in the decades to come. We cannot afford to delay proper action any longer.

As the member for Cooper, this is something that is of the highest priority for me. My constituents care about strong action on climate change, and I'm committed to representing them. I'm committed to representing them within the Albanese Labor government, a party of government, a party that is actually about getting things done. I don't waste the precious time I have in this place going about throwing personal insists and jibes at individuals who are doing their jobs. I don't waste the parliament's time pulling stunts or moving motions without doing any of the complex work and hard slog that needs to go into seriously changing the laws of this country. I take the time and make the effort to help bring about real change, and that is what this bill delivers. It has been painstakingly written, with all the consultation, the legal advice and the touch of genius that goes into such things. I commend the minister and his team for the long hard hours that have gone into drafting this bill. This is the real change that I've been fighting for my whole career in the labour movement.

The Australian Labor Party is the party of workers. It is proudly the party of the union movement. In some corners of society, there is a misleading notion that the labour movement is at odds with the environmentalist movement. This is a misconception being peddled—that stronger environmental protection or action to address climate change will inherently impact the opportunities of everyday working people. That's a lie. I was a union representative as a young nurse back in 1985. My first official role with the Australian nursing federation began in 1997. I eventually became the federal secretary of that union before having the honour of representing all Australian workers for eight years as president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions. Throughout all that time, there was a growing awareness of changing climate. As the scientific base of evidence continued to grow, all areas of society resolved that something needed to change. Change was needed to reduce our emissions and protect our environment and, importantly, we needed to protect and support workers through that change.

It would be remiss not to acknowledge the immense difficulties for government and industry in taking effective action to address climate change. It's no easy feat. We know in the past governments have let working people down when making serious changes to our economy. I think back to the 1970s and 1980s, when the world's economy underwent a series of structural changes. As Australia got swept up in these reforms, many workers got left behind. For example, in the 1970s, the reduction of tariffs on textiles, clothing and footwear resulted in fierce competition from cheaper imports from countries in the Global South. This saw a rapid decline in Australian manufacturing of these items and significant job losses. Looking back on this history, some might say that these sorts of structural adjustments were important for the Australian economy. But what history too often forgets is the very real economic and social costs for workers, families and communities.

So what happened to all of the workers who lost those jobs? The reality of history paints a bleak picture: a third were able to find commensurate employment, another third found insecure work at lower wages and with poorer conditions than they previously enjoyed, and a final third never worked again. These were skilled, hardworking people with families to look after, mortgages to pay, kids to care for and grandparents to provide for. A more recent example is the case for ex-Mitsubishi workers when the South Australian plant closed in 2008 and again in 2017 when the then coalition government drove the car manufacturing industry entirely from our shores. An almost identical fate fell upon those workers.

While the car manufacturing and textile industries tell us cautionary tales, there are road maps of how change can be well managed to support workers through industry transition. Germany is a shining example. In Germany, the government chose to work with unions, workers and the industry when the decision was made to downscale their coalmining industry. Importantly, German workers were effectively redeployed across the industry in a systematic approach to avoid the sudden negative impact of single mine closures on the surrounding communities. This process saw thousands of workers successfully reskilled and reemployed, with only a few having to take funded early retirement. There is a simple story to tell here: working together and planning properly can mean no-one gets left behind. Here the Albanese Labor government has learnt well and will not be making the mistakes of governments past. This Labor government is taking strong action to protect our environment, address climate change, transition our economy and, all the while, support working people, working together so no-one gets left behind.

This bill will establish a new independent statutory authority to promote orderly and positive economic transformation as the world decarbonises. The bill sets out the detailed functions, powers and governance arrangements for the authority and establishes a framework for the use of pooled redeployment arrangements when coal- or gas-fired power stations close. As a fossil fuel based economy, the economic, employment and regional implications for Australia of the world decarbonising could be significant if it's not well managed. Australia is in a unique and privileged position. With our abundance of renewable energy sources, we're home to every metal and critical mineral essential to get to net zero technologies. This is especially true for our regions. They are the key to our future net zero economy. Our opportunity is here, and we must seize it—and, my word, we are.

The authority will be a partner on behalf of the Labor government, working with industry and investors in getting big transformational projects happening. Most importantly, as is always front of mind for this former president of the ACTU, this bill will support workers in emissions-intensive industries to access new employment and acquire new skills to improve their employment prospects. This bill has our workers and our regions at its core. As we transition, the authority will work with employers, unions and others to support workers into new opportunities. We know there are big changes to come in our economy and change can be daunting, but the authority will be there side by side with our workers, our regions and our communities. Importantly, the authority will work with First Nations people so they can participate in and benefit from the economic shift to net zero emissions, working together so no-one gets left behind.

In my own community of Cooper in Melbourne's north, climate change is one of the most important issues. I have many groups of climate activists, like Darebin Climate Action Now and the ACF Darebin group, who are staunch advocates and activists. They volunteer their time to raise awareness about the climate crisis and advocate for governments of all levels to take bold action. They live their values and are incredibly environmentally conscious. They shop local. They ride bikes. They use public transport. They buy clothes second-hand. They are the definition of reduce, reuse and recycle. But, beyond that, they are playing an important role in helping me develop policy and helping this Labor government develop a broader climate policy for the future. They understand and support Labor's plan to reach 82 per cent renewable energy by 2030 and our significant investment in green technology.

There's already been a 25 per cent increase in renewables in the National Electricity Market since we came to office. A few weeks ago, we saw a big boost to renewables in Victoria and Tasmania: a combined 1.7-gigawatt piece of the six-gigawatt pie in Australia's largest ever tender for renewable energy. Of that, 1.4 gigawatts is for my wonderful home state of Victoria, which is enough renewable energy for 700,000 homes. This will give confidence to investors to build renewable energy generating projects sooner rather than later. Also, a fortnight ago the budget delivered a massive investment in renewable energy. We've allocated $22.7 billion to grow clean industries like critical minerals, renewable hydrogen and clean energy manufacturing. This is a once-in-a-generation investment from the Albanese Labor government that is going to make such a big impact.

Climate groups have come out in support of this announcement. The Climate Council called this 'a decisive turn towards Australia's clean energy future,' with the federal government 'charting a course to power past the end of fossil fuels'. The Smart Energy Council CEO said: 'This budget changes Australia's future,' and, 'This charts the pathway to Australia's prosperity and comparative advantage.' And do you know who else has come out in support of our Future Made in Australia plan? The Australian Council of Trade Unions. It says it's 'set to create secure manufacturing jobs and develop new industries as part of the government's objectives of turning Australia into a clean energy superpower'. The Labor Party, the union movement, the climate movement and industry are all in lock step. Climate action and action to support working people, jobs and the environment are working together so no-one gets left behind.

It is clear that we need to continue to move towards low-emission technology with renewables and not prolong the life of fossil fuels. Renewables are the future of Australia. There's simply no other option. The transition to renewables must be rapid, but it must be just. The transition to renewables must be equitable. We can't leave anyone behind—not a single worker or their family, not a single region or community. I owe it to the people of Cooper, to our workers, to those I have fought alongside and to all those I will continue to fight for to stand here today in fierce support of this bill—a bill I've fought for for a very long time, a bill that will change the story for a future powered by renewable energy, a bill shaped by the voices of workers, a bill that will bring us together to build a new economy with decent jobs and a clean future, a bill where no-one is left behind, a bill that shows we are about real change.

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