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

My question is addressed to the Minister for Trade representing the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources. Would the minister update the House on government measures to secure a strong future for Australia’s coal industry, particularly as to the importance of jobs in the electorate of Gippsland of Minister McGauran and in my electorate of McMillan? Is the minister aware of any threats to the industry’s future international competitiveness?

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for McMillan for the question. He represents one of the major coal-producing areas of Australia and he, like many others, must be concerned about the threats to the coal industry that we have seen coming from the opposite side over recent days. The Australian government stands firmly behind the Australian coal industry and the 130,000 Australian families that are dependent upon that industry for their incomes. The $24 billion worth of export income is also absolutely critical to Australia’s growth and prosperity, so we have been supporting practical measures to help the Australian coal industry to achieve its potential and, in particular, to meet the challenges of climate change.

The $500 million Low Emission Technology Demonstration Fund last year provided $100 million to projects in Victoria and Queensland to develop clean coal technology. The industry’s own Coal 21 initiative has committed $300 million to support low-emission technology projects. We are working with the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate to help ensure that there are real environmental outcomes to help improve the environmental performance of this industry. And with China we are working on a joint coordination group for clean coal technology, which was recently announced by our Prime Minister and the Premier of China.

So Australia has been very active in seeking to expand the opportunities of our world-leading coal industry. Of course, not all people are so enthusiastic about the Australian coal industry. Yesterday we learnt that Senator Bob Brown wants to end all coalmining in Australia and close down all coal-fired power stations within three years. We also learnt that Labor is wooing a Greens preference deal. We know from past experience that Labor has been prepared to trade off any policy and any number of jobs in its determination to get green preferences. We learnt that the member for Kingsford Smith has already written off the coal industry and its jobs as just hypothetical and made it clear that any expansion of the coal industry was a thing of the past. This anti coal industry talk is not just talk; there has also been a fair degree of action. We have noticed, for instance, that Labor and Green councillors in Newcastle combined recently to force a cap on coal exports and a moratorium on new coalmine approvals. So Labor is already acting against the coal industry.

Western Australia has proposed a $25 a tonne carbon tax and now we know that the New South Wales Labor government is proposing a $109 tax on a proposed new coalmine at Anvil Hill in the Hunter Valley. These are the kinds of actions that you would expect from a party that wants to close down this industry and that has no sympathy whatever for the importance of coalmining in Australia—no respect for and no interest in the thousands of jobs created in the electorate of the honourable member for McMillan, in the Hunter and in Central Queensland by this great Australian industry. The reality is that Labor is anti the coal industry. The coalminers of Australia and all those people who are dependent on the industry have grave reason to be concerned about Labor’s lack of commitment to the coalmining industry and their determination to wind it down. The best solution for Australia is to make sure that Labor never sees government nationally so there will be somebody left to stand up for this great Australian industry and its wonderful contribution to our economy.