Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, as I sat, alone and forlorn, in my office last night—

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for McMillan will come to his question.

Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I got this question for the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources. Would the minister update the House on practical government initiatives to lower Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions?

Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the hard work and support of the member for McMillan on our policies in relation to lowering greenhouse gas emissions. When it comes to practical measures and real results, there is no better example of those policies than the Low Emission Technology Demonstration Fund. Through this fund the federal government is now supporting five cutting-edge low-emission projects to the tune of $310 million. These projects cover a suite of technologies, from clean coal technology to renewable energy to coal seam methane—projects worth some $2 billion. On Friday, the Minister for the Environment and Heritage announced that the government would be supporting the world’s largest CO sequestration project. At its peak, this Gorgon project will be burying some three million tonnes per annum of CO every year off the coast of Western Australia.

When this suite of technologies, demonstrated by the five projects, achieves its full potential, it is estimated that they could reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by around 50 million tonnes per year from 2030—real projects, real outcomes, which is a stark contrast to the policies of the Labor Party. While I am talking about the Labor Party, I noticed an article in the Australian recently, notable for some words in it—‘effectively dead’, ‘irrelevant’, ‘ineffective’, ‘mostly symbolic’. The member for Griffith should not be smiling. I am not talking about the Leader of the Opposition; I am talking about a policy which he holds very dear—the Kyoto protocol.

The article went on to say:

... no-one now believes the treaty has the remotest chance of driving the reforms needed to make the withering cuts in emissions required ...

No-one believes it except the Leader of the Opposition and the Labor Party, who cling to an outdated, last-century policy while they ignore the opportunity to debate the potential of nuclear energy. They live in the past and they ignore practical solutions—unlike this government, which continues to deliver measures that lower greenhouse gases.