Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. This morning on ABC Radio, the Deputy Prime Minister said about net zero emissions, 'We don't actually come up with the plan.' Is the Deputy Prime Minister right?

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

Our plan for achieving our climate commitments and our goals are being worked through by the cabinet and in the policy processes of the cabinet. We have completed those. We will do exactly as we did before the last election. At the last election we set out our commitments to 2030 and how we would get there. We did that by all sectors and the initiatives that were put in place to ensure that we could reach those commitments.

Others didn't think that we'd be able to make that commitment and meet it, just like they didn't think we'd be able to make the 2020 commitments, which we did. We met those and we beat those. And we are engaged in exactly the same considered and detailed process to ensure that when we make a commitment we can tell people in regional Australia, we can tell them up in Newcastle and in the Hunter, we can tell them over in Whyalla and we can tell them anywhere in this country what it will mean for them, what the costs will be and how this will impact on their livelihoods and on their regions, and how, together, we will be able to reduce emissions and ensure the viability of economies right across this country.

That is our process. That is what we do. We are upfront with the Australian people and the world, because no country reports on their quarterly emissions reduction better than Australia. To the best of our knowledge, Australia is the only country in the world that reports emissions reduction by quarter—every gas, every sector, every quarter. That is something Australia should be very proud of. That is something other countries should be doing. We are very transparent about this, and we will be very transparent about our plans and how we intend to meet the important goals that we are setting out to ensure we address climate change and, at the same time, ensure that we do not take away the industries and jobs that Australians depend on.

Our government is not going to write a blank cheque on this. We're not going to write a blank cheque. We're not going to legislate away a blank cheque, which is what the Leader of the Labor Party and the Labor Party will be doing. They will take an unqualified commitment and they will spend whatever of your money, Mr Speaker, and that of Australians around the country. They will do that unfettered and with an unqualified commitment, and it'll all fall on the people of Australia. What we will do is consider this carefully and have a clear plan which we can take Australians with us on.

But those opposite boast about what they do in this area. I had one of my own members, the Deputy Prime Minister, quoted to me in the question so let me quote another member of this chamber:

After 14 years of trying, the Labor Party has made not one contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in this country—

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

No, I say to the Prime Minister—

Mr Burke interjecting—

No! I say to the Prime Minister, and to the Manager of Opposition Business, that it's not a question of because one person was quoted that you can quote another. You need to be relevant to the question and it's not a matter of then just adding something else in. Prime Minister.

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

Mr Speaker, that was the member for Hunter.

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Members on my left! I say to the Prime Minister, and I'm going to make this as clear as I can for when a question that asks about a quote. All of his answer was relevant. It didn't ask about any other quotes and the option isn't there to simply decide that you will add another quote in a political attack.