Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Australia has an abundance of natural resources. We're global leaders in coal, gas, uranium, iron ore, critical minerals and rare earths. These resources are the foundation of our prosperity and have powered the economic growth of our regional neighbours, and our world-leading standard of living owes much to traditional energy sources. That's why Labor's agenda to drag us backwards, cripple our productivity, lower our living standards and undermine our national competitiveness is so dangerous. It compromises us all. Labor are targeting coal and gas, aiming to phase them out despite Australia accounting for just over one per cent of global carbon emissions.

In typical Labor fashion, they can't go past the new tax. Last month Labor drove straight over the top of the democratic process and rammed the new fuel efficiency standard through parliament. Put simply, this is a big new tax on new four-wheel drives and utes—vehicles like Ford Rangers, Toyota HiLuxes and Prados, Mitsubishi Outlanders and Isuzu D-MAXes and MU-Xes, to name just a few. These vehicles are critical to my community, and they're not just wheels. They're the muscle behind hauling boats and caravans. They're essential for tradies and farmers, and Labor's tax will slap thousands onto the sticker price of new utes and family SUVs. So I ask regular Australians today: why should Anthony Albanese choose your car? Why should he force you onto an electric vehicle? This policy is bad news for all Aussies who depend on these vehicles.

But that's not all Labor is planning today. Labor is also planning to install massive ugly wind farms along WA's beautiful south-west coastline. Last month I made a submission against the Mandurah offshore wind farm, and I stressed that the wind farm would damage my community's local environment, as well as tourism and recreational activities. But it's not just about the visual impact or what it does to our ocean floors, marine life or birds. Wind farms cost a massive amount of money, while delivering unreliable and unaffordable power compared to proven coal and gas. There are enormous sunk costs to this wind farm. The transmission and distribution costs will be paid for by Australian families and businesses, because many clean energy companies are unprofitable, requiring government subsidies. There is nothing clean, by the way, about the emissions-intensive manufacturing of solar panels and wind farms, which are often made with coal-fired power energy in less environmentally regulated jurisdictions like China.

As usual, Labor has its priorities all wrong. While communities like mine grapple with cost-of-living pressures, the Prime Minister and the energy minister are obsessed with pursuing their green dreams. It's unfair for Labor to expect Australians to carry the burden of their radical energy policies. Even worse, this proposal will increase our dependence on a foreign power, as most wind turbines are made in China. We'll be importing weakness into our grid while exporting our natural advantage in coal and gas. It makes no sense.

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