Ted O'Brien (Fairfax, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

Through you, I refer to this minister, and I refer to all of the members on the other side of this parliament, the government, because this is a vile ruse, a deceit of the Australian people. Let's go to criteria No. 2 in their National Interest Framework. It says:

Public investment is needed for the sector to make a significant contribution to emissions reduction at an efficient cost.

That sounds good. Yet again, it sounds great. But don't listen to what they say; look at what they do.

It has since been confirmed that technologies recognised around the world and resources recognised around the world to reduce emissions, to achieve net zero, are excluded by this government, by this policy. So is CCS, carbon capture and storage, included? No, it's not. Ideologically, they disagree with it. Blue hydrogen? 'No, we don't want that either,' says the Albanese government, 'let alone uranium and nuclear technology. There's not a chance in the world.' This again contradicts their own National Interest Framework, which is why you have to look at what they do and not at what they say.

We also know that, once you look at the detail of the flow of money coming through this policy, there is $3.9 billion unaccounted for and it is not stated on what that will be spent. But here's what we do know: that nearly $4 billion will be used, or at least announced, over the next 12 months—in an election year. This is a cynical slush fund from the Albanese Labor government to try to set them up for an election. Here they are, coming in with all the motherhood statements of 'made in Australia'. This is made for the Labor Party. This is made for their election campaign. There is $3.9 billion. I invite any member of the Labor Party who is prepared to come into this House, including the minister at the table, to clarify what that $3.9 billion is going to be used for. But they will not say so, because it's a slush fund. This is not about team Australia. This is about team Labor and this is why it is cynical. It's a vile ruse. Don't listen to what they say. Look at what they do. It is typical Labor big government. They pick winners. But, when you have a bunch of losers trying to pick winners in the marketplace, it's the Australian people who will always pay. That's been the case to date with this Albanese government and it will continue to be the case if this so-called Future Made in Australia Bill passes this House.

What this really is is an attempt to mop up failure in policy. I would love an extension of time if the minister would allow me because I'd like to go through the failures in his policy. But let me focus on the policy for which I am shadow minister. That is climate change and energy. Such is the failure of this government that we have seen a tripling of insolvencies in the manufacturing sector since it came to office. The feedback from the manufacturing sector is that one of their key problems is the cost of energy. This government, including this minister and other members of Labor in this House, looked the Australian people in the eye and promised them a $275 reduction in household power bills. They promised $275 coming off household bills. Today there are areas of Australia where households are paying up to $1,000 more than what Labor had promised.

But the impact on business, especially on manufacturing, is far more long term because we have manufacturers closing down. We have major energy-intensive manufacturers looking to relocate to the likes of China and India. Is that a criticism of China and India? No. But why are they relocating? Energy prices are too high in Australia. Why are energy prices too high? It's a direct consequence of government policy. Why is government wanting to increase the cost of energy? Because it's coming from technologies they don't like, especially coal and gas. So work this one out. The policy settings of this government are all about reducing emissions, so they're bumping up the cost of energy, which is what is happening, and the companies that get stung go to China and India. In the manufacturing sector alone, emissions from those countries are three to four times what they are in Australia. So they are in fact making emissions worse globally through the policies they are introducing. That's before you even talk about the collapse of industry, the shedding of jobs and the fact that regional communities are becoming weaker and poorer as a direct consequence of this government.

What's the relevance here to the Future Made in Australia? The relevance is that the pork-barrelling which is going to be going on through this policy will be doubling down on those same failed energy policies. They know full well that the 82 per cent renewable target by 2030 is an unmitigated disaster. It won't be achieved. It's driving prices up. And industry knows that. The government knows that because industry tells them. So what's their solution? They double down on it and introduce the so-called Future Made in Australia Bill when, in truth, it is going to lead to the closure of industry. It would be more honestly rephrased as a 'future made in China'. That is the fact of this bill.

Can I again say, in closure: do not listen to what the Labor Party say; look at what they do. This policy is nothing but a vile ruse to help the Labor Party—certainly not 'team Australia'.

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