Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The Bureau of Meteorology has said that the Murray-Darling Basin is in record drought and that the climate crisis is a significant factor. But your government is lifting levels of pollution, which is making global warming worse and threatening farmers and communities on the land even further. Prime Minister, if we've always been a land of droughts and flooding rains, why are you doing everything in your power to make these extreme events worse? Doesn't every tonne of thermal coal that you export and burn send another farmer to the wall? Prime Minister, what is more important: crops or coal?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. I would refer him to the speech I gave to the United Nations recently, the National Statement for Australia, which set out very clearly the actions that Australia is taking and our record, in particular, in relation to renewable energy investments, which per capita are the highest of any country in the world today. I note the member for Melbourne shakes his head. I simply said that Australia's per capita investment in renewable energy is the highest in the world today, and he shook his head. If he's in denial of those facts, I'll leave that to him. What I know is what I set out in that national statement to the United Nations, which said very clearly that we will meet our Kyoto 2020 targets. Not only will we meet them, but we will beat them by 367 million tonnes. Not only that, but we will meet our 2030 commitments through the combination of measures that we've announced and the other factors that will contribute to that out to 2030.

We agree that there is a need to take action on climate change. That was not an issue of debate or division, I believe, between the major parties at the last election. The issue that was debated, the issue that was being contested, was the scale and the level of targets that could be responsibly set for Australia in the future and the impact that that would have on the Australian economy. At the election we were able to explain very clearly what the costs of our targets were and how we were going to meet them. The Labor Party at the last election were unable to do that and they were unable to spell out what the costs would be to jobs, and this was a key issue.

I note now that the Labor Party, since the election, cannot even settle on a policy on climate change. They cannot settle on what their policy is. We've got 28 per cent over here. We've got 45 per cent over there. We've got—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will resume his seat. The member for Melbourne on a point of order?

Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's on relevance on two matters. One is that my question was about the government, not about others. Secondly, to be relevant, surely the Prime Minister must address the drought and the climate crisis at some point in the answer?

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just before I call the Prime Minister I will say that there is a narrower scope in the question with respect to alternative policies. But there was 45 seconds worth of question there. There were a number of questions and statements. As I've said before, I can't assist people with questions but the longer they are, the more scope there is for the answerer to deal with the material.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Now I note that the Labor Party—and I'm sure the Greens would agree, because they joined together on this matter yesterday—are talking about what the member describes as a 'climate emergency'. I note that in response to a climate emergency the Leader of the Opposition is going to say that we will know Labor's response sometime between October 2021 and March 2022. He said in a doorstop interview today:

Obviously, the first chance that we have to be elected to office will be after the next election, sometime between October 2021 and March 2022, is when I expect it to be.

That's the window. So at that point in time … it will be much worse if the government doesn't actually have an energy policy.

He talked about that. So they will develop a comprehensive policy at that time. I would like to know what their policy is. If it's such an emergency, as they say, they should be able to say what their policy is. (Time expired)

Mr Albanese interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll hear from the Leader of the House on a point of order.

Christian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition used a clearly unparliamentary term loudly and directly heard by everyone.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can I be blunt? I think I warned of this yesterday.

An honourable member interjecting—

I know it's a different term, but it's called an escalation. I'm going to ask the Leader of the Opposition if he will withdraw.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For the dignity of the House, I will certainly withdraw.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the leader—

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

But the Prime Minister was deliberately telling a mistruth. I was stating the date of the election—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat. If the Leader of the Opposition believes he's been misrepresented, he has an opportunity after question time, under the standing orders, to take that matter up with the House. The Prime Minister has concluded his answer.

Mr Morrison interjecting—

No, there's nothing left on the clock.