Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The Northern Territory member asked for the full story and then leaves the chamber because he doesn't want to hear it. He doesn't want to hear about how the Northern Territory Labor government has just agreed to underwrite a purchase of gas from the Beetaloo Basin—the Beetaloo climate bomb that we know, if it is lit, will have a country's worth of emissions from it. The Northern Territory Labor government has underwritten that. Do you know what else is part of the full story that the member doesn't want to tell you? At 5.15 pm on the day after this parliament rose after an extended session where we were talking about gas, do you know what we found out? The environment minister had approved the Beetaloo pipeline and didn't tell the chamber. It was hidden from the department's website for weeks and weeks and weeks.

We have this government here that says: 'Oh, no, we're moving to net zero. Come and pass this legislation. Please pass it.' Then, it chimes in from the cheap seats and says, 'Why don't you tell the full story?' I'll tell you the full story. The full story is that this Labor government is using public money to expand the gas industry. Gas is as dirty as coal, and the scientists have said very clearly that we cannot be expanding new gas projects and new coal projects right now. And what does Labor do? It does this greenwashing: 'Here's a net zero bill.' Do you know what? It doesn't cover the people in the gas mines. It doesn't cover the people in the coalmines. And what does Labor do quietly behind the scenes? They say: 'We'll open up new gas projects. We will use public money to fund a big giant new gas plant in the Northern Territory. The Northern Territory Labor government will then underwrite it using public money, and the environment minister will quietly sign off on the pipeline and not tell the parliament.' That is the full story.

Is any bit of that wrong? No, not one bit of that is wrong, because Labor is sitting here trying to pull the wool over people's eyes. It is crystal clear that Labor are climate frauds, saying they want to tackle the climate crisis while expanding coal and gas. If you are serious about this, read the title of the bill—I know the member from the Northern Territory has gone very silent now because everything I've said is true—the Net Zero Economy Authority Bill. You would take a whole-of-economy approach. You would say: 'We know we need to get out of coal and gas. We know we can't open new projects,' like Labor wants to do. We can't keep opening these new projects like Labor wants to do. You would say, 'Let's have a plan to ensure that the workers don't lose money and that there are secure jobs in those communities,' but this legislation doesn't do that.

Instead, what we see in practice is a Labor government extending the life of a coal fired power station in Eraring. Faced with a choice of managing the transition, they use public money to extend the life of a coal fired power station. Even with the narrow category that the bill supposedly applies to, the need for it is rapidly diminishing because Labor is keeping the coal fired power stations going for longer. All these things should be addressed in the bill, and the member for Solomon, the Northern Territory member, knows it but he has fled the chamber after demanding the truth be told. When the truth was told he didn't like it and left, because he knows, like every Labor member here, that they'll say in their electorates that they care about the climate crisis and then come to Canberra and back more coal and gas. They open up new coal and gas mines.

Then, on top of that, we get the Future Gas Strategy. At the same time the government tells us we have to get to net zero emissions by 2050—too late, but that's the target the government has set itself—it comes and releases a strategy, which it's hidden from this bill, that says we need gas to 2050 and beyond. Are you getting to net zero by 2050? No. You're releasing strategies that say we're going keep gas in the system to 2050 and beyond. And Labor is approving coalmines that go past 2050. Please stop with the climate fraud where you pretend to care and bring in bits of legislation that have 'net zero' in front of it and then keep opening new coal and gas mines.

The Greens have said we need a legislated authority. Our version would be much stronger than this one. It would have a much wider remit and it would have money in its pocket to go and drive the transition. That is what we need. That's why we're going to be reserving our position in the Senate on this bill. It is time now for Labor to decide where it stands. If you're serious about getting to zero emissions, then have a plan for the whole of the economy but stop opening up coal and gas mines. You send mixed messages to the communities in the Hunter, the communities in Queensland and the communities in Western Australia when you say, 'We want to tackle the climate crisis' but then back new coal and gas mines. When you back new coal and gas mines and open them up, you suck up workers and capital that could be going to the zero-pollution industries of the future. Pick a lane, Labor. You can work with us to cut climate pollution, but if you keep opening new coal and gas mines you'll be exposed as climate frauds.

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