Bruce Baird (Cook, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Prime Minister. Would the Prime Minister advise the House of the implications for Australia if Senator Bob Brown’s recommendation in relation to the coal industry were to be followed?

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Cook for his question. Can I say in reply that, as a community, as we debate ways of responding effectively to climate change we must do it in a calm, balanced and practical fashion. We must not be panicked into adopting measures that are going to damage Australia’s economy and destroy Australian jobs. Already a number of dangerous proposals have emerged, and the chief amongst those of course is the proposal of the Leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Brown, that we should phase out coal exports from this country.

This is a prime example of what happens when you get knee-jerk as opposed to measured, calm, balanced and responsible responses to climate change issues. I might also mention in the context of the future of the coal industry that it is worth reminding the House that the Labor Party’s shadow minister in the environment area, the member for Kingsford Smith, has said that an expanding coal industry is a thing of the past. Bob Brown says you ought to phase it out, and the member for Kingsford Smith, the shadow minister for the environment, says that it is a thing of the past. And we all know who is furiously trying to get Greens preferences in the state of Queensland—none other than the Leader of the Opposition.

Let me point out to the House that Australia is the largest coal exporter in the world. Those exports are worth $24 billion to the Australian economy every year by way of exports. The coal industry employs thousands of Australians and is pivotal, crucial and central to the livelihood of many communities around Australia. Let me simply say that to close down coal exports would do great injury to Australia, cost thousands of Australians their jobs and visit enormous hardship on many regional communities. I have seen in recent years regional communities threatened through the adoption of misguided policies or understandings of policies urged upon major parties by the Australian Greens. I saw it in Tasmania in 2004.

Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Tanner interjecting

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

Order! The member for Melbourne is warned!

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When it came to the forestry industry this government struck the balance between the environment and job security. Let me promise the coalminers of Australia that we will do the same with climate change. We will strike a balance between the interests of dealing with climate change and the preservation of Australian jobs. We have no intention of sacrificing the livelihoods of coalminers, their families or their communities with unfair, short-sighted, knee-jerk responses to the challenge of climate change.