Ged Kearney (Cooper, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Wonder of wonders: the Prime Minister has decided to grace the UN Conference of the Parties Climate Change Conference with his presence. Lucky them! With the Prime Minister's late RSVP, which Prince Charles and the Queen were left to chase up, the government is now scrambling for a plan. They've got two weeks to come up with something—anything—to take to Glasgow and, boy oh boy, they are struggling with it. They can't bring themselves to pull their heads out of their own party rooms to see what the rest of the world, our young people and the vast majority of Australians, and even our captains of industry can see—the drastic need for climate action.

We know that action on the climate emergency presents Australia with massive opportunities. We on this side know Australia can become a renewables superpower, exporting clean energy to the world and taking advantage of all the jobs and prosperity that would bring. An Albanese Labor government will lead the country to its future—a bright future for the regions, for workers and for all our communities, including those wonderful communities who have kept our country's lights on for centuries. We on this side have a plan, and I guarantee it's a better plan than those opposite have. It seems all the Prime Minister will have is a briefcase with a lump of coal in it that he'll take out and brandish at the world. Sorry, Prime Minister, that ain't going to cut it. It's just plain embarrassing.