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

I have received a letter from the honourable member for Brand proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely:

The Government's abandonment of the Australian resources industry and jobs, by denying the need for net zero emissions.

I call upon all those honourable members who approve of the proposed discussion to rise in their places.

More than the number of members required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This government has wasted eight years on energy and emissions policy, and, even when the resources industry is implementing its own net zero emissions targets, the minister for resources still refuses to listen to reason. In question time today he failed to take the chance to support the net zero emission ambitions of the whole sector that he purports to represent. He has also, I might add, crab walked away from something he said, a report that he made to the Australian Financial Review that he wanted a $250 billion loan facility for the resources industry in addition to the finance that the government already provides that industry—which, I might add, Labor supports. The loans that are granted through Export Finance Australia and other provisions of government are things Labor has put in place in the past and will continue to support. The resources minister actually suggested a separate $250 billion loan facility for the resources industry in recent press but now he's crab walked away from that.

Australian resources sector exports are worth $283 billion per year. It is by far Australia's largest export sector. Iron ore is Australia's largest export product worth around $80 billion per year. Coal is our second largest export at $40 billion. The third largest is liquefied natural gas at around $30 billion. There are 238,000 people directly employed by the resources industry, including around 8½ thousand apprentices and trainees. The mining and METS sector supports an additional 900,000 Australian jobs indirectly. Moreover, the resources sector contributes tens of billions of dollars in taxes and royalties to Commonwealth and state treasuries each and every year.

Australian miners are world leading. They are serious companies run by serious people, financed by serious investors, operated by hard-working Australians. It is incomprehensible that the likes of the member for Hinkler, the minister for resources, thinks he knows better than the entire resources sector about their emissions and economic prospects.

Yesterday Rio Tinto announced it will switch its iron ore mines to run on renewables as part of its acceleration towards decarbonising. Today we read Rio will commit $10 billion to halve its carbon footprint by 2030. The Deputy Prime Minister might be entirely dismissive of Rio Tinto's efforts—as he was yesterday in question time deriding the fact that its CEO lives in London. Well, I can tell you where thousands of Rio Tinto workers live. They live in regions, towns, cities and suburbs right across this country. I remind the Leader of the Nationals that their head office sits just down the road in Barton in Canberra, so don't have a go at the CEO of Rio Tinto.

Earlier this week Mitsubishi Australia, a key investor in energy assets, including natural gas and metallurgical coal, announced a commitment to net zero by 2050 and a 50 per cent reduction by 2030. Last month BHP set a net zero emissions goal by 2050 and is working with its steel producing consumers to cut emissions as Western Australian iron ore becomes steel. In August the WA chamber of commerce Chief Economist, Aaron Morey, said, 'net zero emissions targets must be set at the national level'.

In October the Minerals Council of Australia confirmed the industry's ambition to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and its support of the Paris Agreement. The QLD Resources Council, under the leadership of the Hon. Ian McFarlane—Australia's longest serving resources and energy minister—also came out in support of this goal on the same day. We know Ian is a great conservative and maybe the minister might want to turn to him for advice. WA's chamber of minerals and energy has also announced its support for reducing emissions to net zero as soon as possible and no later than 2050. A couple of weeks ago, as we all know, the Business Council of Australia released a blueprint for Australia to reach net zero emissions, while growing our economy by $189 billion and creating 195,000 new jobs.

But in the lead-up to Glasgow and COP26, as the prime ministerial jet has been fuelled to take him back to the UK, what do we hear from the minister for resources? The minister for resources flatly refuses to support the climate ambitions of the industry he is supposed to represent. Worse, the minister openly stands against the resources sector's efforts to decarbonise their operations and their products. How can it be allowed to stand that the minister for resources of the Commonwealth of Australia is not in the cabinet? He refuses to support and he actively opposes the ambitions, efforts and investments of the industry he purports to represent. It is extraordinary, and it is an untenable position for this government and this minister to maintain.

Every time I visit a mine site and meet with an extractor company I am told about the efforts they are making to reduce emissions. I visit a lot of mine sites and resources operations, from iron ore mines in the Pilbara to coalmines in the Hunter Valley to gold and rare earth mines to the WA goldfields to LNG off the coast of Darwin and Karratha to lithium mines in the south-west of Western Australia to the nickel mine in Kambalda that feeds the BHP refinery in Kwinana in my electorate of Brand.

Barely a day goes by between commitments to net zero or announcements of strategies to get there or the new renewable energy projects that will power mines, camps and refineries. The Australian resources industry is heading to net zero emissions by 2050, with ambitious targets by 2030. The road to decarbonisation will create jobs and economic opportunities throughout the whole value chain. But, under this do-nothing Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister is holding our nation to ransom—ably aided, I might add, by the resources minister and the former minister for resources, Senator Canavan. Despite the massive contribution of the resources sector to Australia's economic wellbeing, the resources portfolio has been excluded from cabinet because the Deputy Prime Minister doesn't like the member for Hinkley—or was it because the member did not vote for the member for New England to lead the Nationals? This is childish and petulant, and it shows enormous disregard for Australia's largest export industry, which is the backbone of this nation's economy. It is playing politics with the backbone of this nation's economy. It is ridiculous, it's obscene and it must stop.

We have a real opportunity now for the Australian resources industry to help the world decarbonise. WA is home to the largest hard rock lithium mine in the world, in Greenbushes, which I visited. A lithium processing plant is being built in Kwinana, which will create 200 ongoing jobs. Where does lithium go? It goes to batteries—that's right; we like to ignore them! Tesla is buying them from BHP. And it goes to other electric vehicles, to build the kind of car that the Prime Minister claimed would 'destroy the weekend'. You can see, as I have, that the Mount Weld Lynas rare earths mine in Laverton in WA's northern Goldfields is one of the world's highest-grade rare earth deposits. At Mount Weld they mine minerals that go into electric vehicle batteries, including Toyota's hybrid range, as well as minerals that are critical for producing small powerful magnets that make your mobile phone vibrate. So, next time the minister's phone vibrates from a call from a mining executive asking him to get his act together on net zero, thank Lynas and Mount Weld.

The most-sustainable and lowest-carbon nickel producer in the world is BHP Nickel West in Kwinana. It produced the first nickel sulphate crystals just this month and will produce 100,000 tonnes of nickel sulphate this year. That's enough nickel to make 700,000 electric vehicle batteries. And 50 per cent of BHP Nickel West's power is generated by the Merredin solar farm, and they hope to achieve more. BHP are actually doing it, while this government and minister sit on their collective hands. Nickel West represents 80 jobs permanently and 400 jobs indirectly just from the nickel sulphate plant. Across their entire operation, 2½ thousand people are employed in this vertically integrated mine-to-metal business. Every senator and every MP will be glad to know that they have a little bit of Kambalda and a little bit of Kwinana right in their pocket or in their hands when they carry their mobile phones around with them.

Labor will always stand up for the resources industry. We will support the ambition of the resources industry, which creates thousands of good jobs for workers right around the nation and is, as our biggest exporter, literally the backbone of our economy. Labor will ensure that Australia's minister for resources will have a seat at the cabinet table and not be relegated because of a childish spat. Labor acknowledges the work of the resources industry and is seeking to achieve net zero emissions, and if the current minister for resources doesn't want to get behind them he should get out of the way and resign.

Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party, Minister for Resources and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

(15:34) Just to be clear, I won't be resigning, even though it's been suggested by the opposition. I get on very well with the shadow minister. She's actually got her head screwed on, and she understands the industry. She's across a lot of the brief, and of course there are many things on which we work collegially and we certainly get some good outcomes. In terms of this MPI, I'll go through the issues, particularly the ones that have been raised, but I do want to bring the focus back to the individuals that work in the sector.

As I said in question time, I've been contacted by a gentleman called Kenzy Gillespie. Kenzy is an apprentice electrician. He works at the Moranbah North mine, which I visited in recent weeks. Kenzy was on the opposite shift, so I didn't get a chance to see him. He says to me in his email that he thought I might remember him because he had contacted me earlier in the year. He went on to say:

I was not fortunate enough to be rostered on here at Moranbah north mine today as I would have loved to have met you. Although myself, and all of our Anglo employees are very fortunate to have secured our positions throughout this mine, I can assure you as a 22 year old I have been setup for life with this golden opportunity that is at our feet here in the resources sector.

Because of this I was able to buy my first house at 19, I went on to hold that for 2.5 years and have recently sold that and am looking for acreage around the Mackay region to start primary producing on my days off, all of this would be to no avail without these incredible opportunities in front of us.

Kenzy goes on to say he wants to acknowledge the consistent hard work of all the men and women in the industry and thank me personally for the visit to Moranbah North mine, an Anglo operation. So, every time I consider a policy, every time I consider the sector and every time I look at what we need to do, I keep people like Kenzy front and centre in my mind. Fundamentally, our job is to deliver for the people of Australia and to ensure that they have opportunities into the future, and that is absolutely what I intend to continue to do.

Those opposite talk about the government's abandonment of the Australian resource industry. Let's just have a look at what that abandonment looks like right now. There's never been a better time to be in the sector—there has not. Thermal coal prices are absolutely through the roof. They are at record levels. The spot price today is over US$240, given an exchange rate of roughly 75c—I haven't looked at today's current update. They're out there putting these things in wheelbarrows and running them down the road to get them into a ship so they can get them out for sale. Not many of those opposite will understand what a wheelbarrow is—it's something you do hard work with!

Fundamentally, there are opportunities right across the sector. We know that there's been an early winter snap, particularly in parts of Asia. That has driven up a demand for gas, so gas prices are also up. I'll say categorically that Australia's coal sector, regardless of what some opposite may say, has an incredibly strong and important future. Demand will continue. The forecast that I have is that demand will actually increase from now out to 2030. By 2050, there's an expectation that that market will still be just under 20 per cent off that peak, and Australia will look to fill that market. We will fill that market at every opportunity. If buyers want it, we're selling it. If they want our resources, we'll be delivering them, because it is good for our economy. It's good for the people that I represent. It's good for every single Australian that is looking for an opportunity.

Briefly, while I've got the opportunity, I do want to acknowledge the very, very good work of the sector. One of the things I raised with all of the major companies on appointment was my expectation that they hire and train more young Australians. I'm advised that roughly 5,700 apprentices and trainees have been put on in the sector in the last 12 months. That is more than they've put on altogether for some years. This is a very, very good result. I do want to acknowledge and thank the sector for the work that they are doing with young Australians to give them not only opportunity but also skills—skills that are transferable, skills that people like Kenzy use to go and pay for a house to set themselves up for their future life and future opportunities.

Coal will continue to be a strong part of the economy right throughout Australia, whether it's Newcastle or whether it's Queensland and whether it's thermal coal or whether it's met coal. In fact, we export enough iron ore, for example, to build 10,000 Sydney Harbour Bridges a year. Our met coal sector is incredibly strong. It's rough and ready. Met and thermal are worth about $50 billion to the economy. It's around 50,000 direct jobs and around 300,000 indirect jobs. Practically all of those are in regional areas, and we want to make sure that the sector continues to be strong.

In terms of gas, we're one of the world's largest exporters of gas. All of the forecasts that I've seen expect gas demand to increase. This is why we are driving forward with the gas-led recovery. This is why I've announced a strategic basin plans program. This is why we've gone to areas like the Beetaloo, looking to get that development brought forward by some two to three years on previous expectations. Without that gas, who fills the market? Our competitors do. Without that gas, how do we keep our domestic prices low? Unless we continue to fill not only the east coast market but the whole country with affordable, reliable energy, our manufacturers can't be competitive. This is why we continue to support the sector.

As those opposite outlined, the 'abandonment' of the sector looks pretty good: the forecast is that we'll do a record year. We're going to do $346 billion. That's the estimate, in terms of exports, for resources and energy. That sounds alright to me—up almost $100 million out of the midst of the pandemic. There is no other sector in this country that can turn around $100 billion in economic activity other than the resources sector.

I've been to a number of sites in recent weeks—as you know, Deputy Speaker Llew O'Brien, we've been caught up in Queensland by border restrictions and everything else—including the Bravus mine. Bravus were previously known as Adani. We went in recent weeks. They are at first coal. They're starting to build their stockpile. They've got an expectation that they'll have first deliveries sometime before Christmas. What has that mine done? It's provided jobs for more than 2,000 Australians—2,000 individuals. It's delivered over $1 billion worth of contracts into, in particular, regional cities and regional contractors.

I was up in Townsville when the new trains arrived. They've arrived in Townsville. I was fortunate to be there with Andrew Wilcox, the mayor of the Whitsunday Regional Council. The local member for Dawson and other local members in the area came along. The member for Dawson had a great quote. These trains were big and bright and orange, and the member for Dawson said, 'These are giant orange job-making machines,' and I think that that is exactly right. The Bowen Rail Company has been set up by Bravus as part of their operations based out of Bowen, a small regional centre, delivering jobs for regional towns and regional economies.

I was in Gladstone at the QCLNG plant with Col Boyce, the member for Callide, where we saw firsthand just how important the gas sector is. This is a sector that's grown in just a decade. It's worth tens of billions of dollars. This is Australia's resources sector at work, delivering to markets where, right now, there is some very significant demand. As the shadow minister outlined, we know that exports totalled $30 billion in 2021, and get this: they are forecast to climb to $56 billion in 2021-22—$30 billion to $56 billion in a year. That is incredibly good for the Australian economy. This is how, when we talk about royalties from things like coal, governments, particularly state governments, pay for the essential services that Australians rely on. This is how they pay for hospitals and roads and schools. This is how they pay for police forces and health workers—along with support from the Commonwealth. The taxation from the sector helps the Commonwealth to deliver our facilities and our policies across Australia. Can you imagine where we would be without it? This is a significant contributor to the Australian economy, and right now they are going incredibly well.

Whether you're in Moranbah North, whether you're at Bravus, formerly known as Adani, whether you're in Townsville, whether you're in Newcastle, whether you're across the Hunter, whether you're in the Pilbara, whether you're in any of those regional areas in the Northern Territory—many of them rely, in terms of their jobs, on the resources sector being strong and successful. It is this government that intends to continue that success. It is this government that intends to continue providing those opportunities.

I want to come back once again to the work that's been done by the sector on apprentices and trainees. It's something that I look at, personally, as a former apprentice and as someone that did start by sweeping the floor in a workshop. That opportunity was given to me by heavy industry. I was very fortunate as a 17-year-old kid to get a start. The skills that I learnt took me through a trade. I now find myself here, and I want as many kids as possible in Australia to have those opportunities. Those opportunities are available in the resources sector right now. They are there right now. There are almost 40,000 vacancies. Everyone is looking for workforce. Everyone is looking to try and fill those slots, because right now the market is hot, whether it's gas or whether it's coal—even iron ore is still incredibly strong.

I want to give a shout-out to the sector, whether they're in the west, whether they're in the east, whether they're in coal, whether they're in met coal, whether they're in gas, whether they're in iron ore or any of the critical minerals facilities. We need to train more kids. We need to grow our own timber. They are the ones who are available. I want to see every single Australian kid that wants a job in the sector get that job, learn those skills and go on to be as successful as they choose to be.

Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's a pleasure to follow the Minister for Resources and Water—I say that honestly—because he is enthusiastic about the sector. There are many problems with his contribution, but the one I want to pick up is the fact that he spent 10 minutes talking about the resources sector in the context of a commitment to net zero by 2050 and he didn't once mention any of the economic opportunities the transition will bring. He didn't mention battery manufacturing and inputs like lithium mining. He didn't mention hydrogen or the opportunities there. He concentrated on the staples of coal, gas and iron ore, which are all very important and have a great role into the future according to different time frames, but he didn't the mention future opportunities once. That shows the poverty of thinking from those opposite on this issue.

The truth is that Australia is blessed with the greatest reserves of iron and titanium in the world. We've got the second-greatest reserves of rare earths, copper and lithium and the third-greatest reserves of silver. We have all the critical inputs into batteries, electric vehicle manufacturing and the broader clean-energy industries. We've got the highest amount of solar radiation per square metre in the entire world, and we've got great wind and wave resources. All this, when you put it together with a government with a vision and a commitment to net zero emissions by 2050, means we could have a supercharged resources industry. We'd be the home of clean-tech manufacturing for the world. We'd be the home of energy-intensive manufacturing fuelled by cheap and plentiful renewable energy. Tomago Aluminium, for example, would be powered by renewable energy. We'd have clean steel centred in the Hunter again. Newcastle would be the real steel city again, unlike pretenders. We'd be the centre of hydrogen production for the world. All these are the potential that we have if we have a government that embraces net zero, embraces action on climate change and is not held hostage by the troglodytes in the National Party room.

We're backed up in that opinion by many leading corporates, none of them renowned as left-wing communists, none of them renowned as Balmain basketweavers. We've got Rio Tinto, who's committed $10 billion to halving emissions by 2030, including looking at one gigawatt of renewable energy. BHP is aiming for net zero emissions by 2050; as is the Minerals Council. The BCA has found that reaching net zero emissions by 2050 will boost economic growth by $890 billion and create an additional 195,000 jobs. An economic study by Accenture, supported by BCA and the ACTU, called Sunshot, found that Australia could be a clean energy export superpower by 2040, which would produce 395,000 additional jobs and an extra $89 billion in new exports. That is the potential if we embrace it, if we're not scared of the future, like those opposite.

Instead, under this woeful government that is tearing itself apart over climate right now, we are faced with being the rust belt of the Asia-Pacific. We'll face carbon border tariffs hitting Australian farm products, Australian resources and Australian manufactured goods. This is all because of the climate wars that they're perpetuating, because we have a Deputy Prime Minister who rejects the stance of BCA, BHP and Rio because they don't live in his electorate. He says he would rather represent the miners of Muswellbrook, not corporates. But I would contemplate that for a minute. Is he really representing the interests of the miners of Muswellbrook and the engineers of Emerald? I don't think he is. I actually think he's representing one particular mining industry figure, a person who lives a bit further afield than Muswellbrook or Emerald. Let's just call that person 'Gina from Perth'.

Gina from Perth wants Australian workers to earn $2 a day. She's a person who gave a speech at her old school denying climate change. This is the person the Deputy Prime Minister gets his policy advice from. It's not a surprise, since only four months ago she put on a $10,000-a-head fundraiser for the Deputy Prime Minister in her own home. She tried to give the Deputy Prime Minister $40,000 in cash through a made-up agricultural award. She's a woman who flew the Deputy Prime Minister on a private jet for a holiday in India in 2011. This is the one person in the mining industry that the Deputy Prime Minister listens to. For this person he is sacrificing the future of our country, the economic potential of our country, the hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs that we could create, all at the sacrifice of the zero per cent of billionaires that live in his electorate. This is the sad fate of climate policy and energy policy under this government. Those opposite listen to the wrong people. They don't listen to the science. They're guided by narrow sectional interests rather than embracing the true economic future that this country could have if only we had a government with vision, commitment and rational common sense.

David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party, Minister Assisting the Minister for Trade and Investment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I always enjoy these Thursday afternoon MPIs, because they always come up with some crazy hypothesis at the basis of their question or statement. It's so ironic that they're criticising us, when we have actually delivered what we said we would do. We have walked the talk. Many nations and whole sections of the body politic around the world prophesied that they were going to reach amazing targets, but what Australia has achieved is that we have the lowest emissions since records started—in fact, 20.8 per cent less. Our emissions are 20.8 per cent lower than they were in 2005, and down by 639 million tonnes in the last year alone. That's enough to take millions of cars off the road for more than a decade, yet at the same time we are protecting jobs in the resources sector. Employment is up in both the resources sector and the manufacturing sector. What happened when they were last in charge of the Treasury benches and governing this nation? One in eight jobs manufacturing jobs went overseas because of their policies. But in the last manufacturing figures we have demonstrated a growth of more than 100,000 jobs to reach more than a million people involved in manufacturing.

We use technology to reach our targets and we have good economic policies to match our environmental policies. We have been supporting solar uptake, which in this country is quite staggering with 7,000 megawatts of new solar generating capacity in both the large-scale and small-scale solar rollout. That is really quite amazing. Everyone will know that New Zealand has criticised us for not doing enough to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, yet when you look at the figures you'll see that we are way in front of New Zealand, Canada, America and Japan. The OECD average was a reduction of seven per cent, and we are already nudging 21 per cent. Like I said, we have walked the talk. We are promoting soil carbon measurement so that farmers that are already doing it and can get recognition. We want more of that happening because soil organic carbon is a huge sink, and good farming techniques marry with good environmental outcomes.

We have been supporting the resources sector and research. We have mentioned carbon capture and storage. We've put $263 million on top of the existing $50 million in a carbon capture and storage technology hub. The revenue from coal, which is the backbone of energy generation in this country, is up despite the prophecy from the other side that no-one is using it any more and everyone is getting out of coal. China itself is building 37 coal fired power stations. India is building new ones, Japan is building new ones, Indonesia is building new ones. They last for 40 or 50 years, so the demand, as outlined by the minister for resources, is predicted to grow between now and 2030. My electorate of Lyne includes the Hunter Valley, where there are about 20,000 people in direct and indirect employment that depend on the mining and resources industry.

We on this side realise where our fertiliser comes from. It comes from gas. Gas is ubiquitous in manufacturing in so many processes, including in plastics and also in fertiliser. The whole fertiliser production process is centred on Newcastle in New South Wales, and these resources deliver revenue for state budgets that fund hospitals, roads and schools. There are also thousands of wage earners that depend on the resources and energy sectors. We're doing good things for the economy as well as good things for the environment. We are also growing employment, as I've outlined and as the minister outlined. The whole premise of their argument is false and very hard to justify—in fact, it's made up. It's a Thursday afternoon special, yet again.

Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Speaking of Thursday afternoon specials, I think we've just heard one! On the eve of the Glasgow conference, according to the Australian Coal Report, the price of export coal out of Newcastle—and this is for the Minister for Resources and Water, who was fetching around for it earlier—has hit another high. It's selling for US$230 a tonne, which is equivalent to A$307 a tonne or 4½ times the amount it was being sold for just one year ago. This seems at odds with a world trying to reduce global emissions, but it isn't. It's clear that coal will have a place in our energy mix going forward. There is no doubt about that, but it's not going to be forever. The use of coal by some nations is not, and should not be considered to be, at odds with Australia's goal of net zero by 2050.

Coal-fired power stations in Australia are closing. They already have, and they're giving us dates for more. Domestic demand for thermal coal will drop. There is no doubt about that. But international demand for Australian thermal coal is likely to continue to be strong in the short term and on to 2050. Decisions about the future of Australian coal exports—Hunter coal exports—won't be made in the Australian parliament; they'll be made in the boardrooms of international companies throughout the world. That's why we have to provide a solid basis for the Australian economy moving forward. This is not a statement of ideology or wishful thinking; it's just a statement of fact.

Coal from Newcastle and Port Kembla is exported to 18 countries, most of them to our near north in Asia. That's why we're seen as the growth engine of the world. Many of these countries are using our coal in coal-fired power stations to generate electricity, so that millions of people across those regions of Asia can flick on a light switch, as we have the privilege to do, and have the things that we take for granted here in Australia today. Newer plants—high-energy, low-emissions plants—have greater efficiencies than Australia's ageing plants and can make the most of the carbon capture used in storage technologies that are now becoming more and more widely used. Our coal is in demand because of these plants. Our coal is fetching high prices because of these plants.

I'm not for one minute suggesting that more coal-fired plants should be built in Australia or should be paid for with taxpayers' money. They won't be, and they shouldn't be. There is no appetite for it, despite what a small minority of those on the other side might have us believe. But that does not mean we should cut off our nose to spite our face. For the time being, our coal is in demand. Our coal is being used to generate electricity in Asia, in countries such as Japan, where the world's fifth-largest economy is being fuelled by Hunter coal, as well as South Korea, Taiwan and China. That market will continue. All of those countries will need to factor in their emissions in their efforts to address climate change, just as we will, and must, in Australia.

According to the Australian department of resources and energy, there will continue to be increases in the tonnage of coal we export both for steaming and coking coal, until at least 2026. After that, markets may decline. Markets are likely to decline. We have to be ready, and it doesn't give us much time. Fortunately, Labor has been thinking about this and planning for this and working on this, unlike those opposite, who are burying their heads in the sand. They are not a coalition; they're a rabble of infighting, Hunger Game alarmists. My community and the community of the Hunter Valley depend on coal, and we won't stand for it.

An honourable member: Squid Game!

That's right. They are living Squid Game; we are not. We won't squib you, but they might squid you—not all of the community, that is true. There are many, many other industries that thrive in the Hunter Valley, and we know that that's important too. It is true that not all in my community support the continued mining of coal. I hear that regularly from people and I understand, but I want to say to all of those people: 'We can't switch off coal overnight. We need to think about our communities. Please think about the workers in these industries who've worked with coal and relied on coal to put food on the table, to keep local businesses afloat and to keep their communities vibrant.' I want to say to those people who work in the coal industry: 'We want to protect you and your jobs. If you want to protect your jobs and our planet, vote Labor and do not trust this rabble of a government.'

Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I really don't know what it is we're hearing in this chamber today. We have got a mixture of the odd couple, or maybe there are multiples of them. Normally we'd have in the back the member for Isaacs shouting down the member for Paterson for the speech she just provided. The member for Macnamara would be in here condemning her commitment to the minerals industry and the creation of energy and jobs. The member for Brand, the member for Paterson and the member for Shortland would be spruiking coal in front of the chamber. There is complete confusion on the part of the Labor Party, which reflects their fundamental lack of understanding of the minerals sector, mining and how they contribute to the Australian economy.

Don't go anywhere, Member for Shortland. We know you're going somewhere. You're off to Glasgow as part of the odd couple with the member for Isaacs. This is going to be one of the most entertaining examples. The member for Isaacs runs around mocking other members of the Labor Party for daring to consider that we have to have jobs in the mining sector. You are going to go together and patch together a coherent narrative about how the Labor Party has a solution to the challenges of climate change. I wish you well. The member for Shortland has a long history of being abusive to people he disagrees with or who disagree with his view on climate change. I know that's going to be a challenge. I am sure you will find solace and comfort in Glasgow by going with him. Hopefully you'll be able to come back a new man.

Let's face it, members on the other side of this chamber simply want to distract from some fundamental realities. They don't have a solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions while making sure we back Australian industries and jobs. We saw this at the last election. They took a policy position on their 2030 target. What is their 2030 target today? I'm listening. I'm waiting to hear an answer, and there is none. There's silence. They go for the long haul but they won't go for the short-term target on which they can be measured and backed, because they have no plan. Everything the Labor Party stands for is based on intentions, not outcomes. That compares to this side of the chamber. We're focused on what we need to do to build the industries of the future to maintain jobs and opportunities for Australians. We also understand that we have to support and back our primary industries. This side of the chamber has always understood that, if you don't have wealth-creating primary industries, you will not create the wealth of the nation to support the manufacturing sector and of course the services sector across the nation. It does not matter where you are in this nation. You are dependent on the wealth that is created from primary industries to back you, your job and your livelihood.

We understand—and we've seen this under the current minister and the Prime Minister—the importance and opportunity of the critical minerals sector. So many technologies to decarbonise globally—whether it's EVs, solar PV cells or new innovative technologies—are dependent on critical minerals like lithium, nickel and copper and rare-earth elements. We are going to make sure that we have the necessary ingredients. We are going to back Aussie jobs to achieve their extraction. That is part of the story of building the next generation of Australian jobs.

That will never be enough for Labor. The old saying is: if you hold a hammer, everything looks like a nail. In Labor it doesn't matter what they're holding—everything should be solved with a tax. This is the party that spectacularly turned around support from the mining sector for a restructuring of the mining tax. They managed to turn not just the mining industry against them, who initially put forward the idea, but the whole nation against them, and that led to the loss of government. This is the party that went to an election and said, 'There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead.' When they did a seedy deal with the Greens to form government that went away straightaway.

It was hilarious to hear the member for Paterson talk about her love for coal and how Labor want to embrace CCS when only a few weeks ago they came into this chamber and tried to make sure there was no investment in reducing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions through CCS. Every time, they talk big. Every time, they make their case. But it's always policy that is based on intent and not outcomes. On this side of the chamber we're for outcomes and Aussie jobs. (Time expired)

Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] This morning I was thinking about what I will tell my grandchildren—when I eventually get them—about my time in parliament. I thought to myself that there would be many moments I could share with them, like the time the former Attorney-General and the Prime Minister backed in a billionaire who tried to bankrupt Western Australia. Or the time the government voted against referring the member for Pearce to the privileges committee for the first time in the history of parliament. Or the time that the Prime Minister cuddled a precious lump of coal in the chamber. Or, indeed, the moment that we're having right now with a government that has dithered and dathered on an energy emissions policy for eight long years, even in the face of mounting evidence of the economic benefits of net zero emissions and an industry that is increasingly more frustrated by a lack of political action.

The Prime Minister might rely on miracles, but the WA resources sector does not. Just this week, Rio Tinto announced it would accelerate its transition to decarbonisation by moving its iron ore mines to run on renewables, and they've invested $10 billion to get there. Mitsubishi Australia has committed to net zero by 2050, as has BHP. The WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the WA Chamber of Minerals and Energy have called for net zero emissions by 2050. The resources industry is racing towards net zero, but the PM and the Minister for Resources and Water are distracted by internal party politics.

Australia, particularly Western Australia, has a lot to offer the world in renewables, in hydrogen, in lithium and in rare minerals. We've got Greenbushes, in the south-west, the largest hard-rock lithium mine in the world. Mount Weld in Laverton has the highest-grade rare earth deposits. Nickel processing in Kwinana by BHP Nickel West produces enough nickel to make 700,000 electric-vehicle batteries. And, right here in the northern suburbs, ClearVue Technologies has developed solar-panelled glass that has the capacity to revolutionise the building industry. But every time I speak to anyone in the resources sector, or anyone conducting world-leading research into renewables, I hear the same story. Their ability to capitalise on Australia's technical expertise, our natural deposits and our ingenuity is stymied by the failure of this government to deliver a national policy on energy and emissions. Yet the Clean Energy Council has just said that we as a nation have the capability and capacity to reach 44.5 per cent cuts to emissions by 2030.

This isn't a matter of ideology. What members opposite believe or don't believe about climate change is beside the point. This is about Australia's future prosperity for our children, for our grandchildren—when we eventually get them—and for generations to come. This is about the blind denial of a reality that is staring us all right in the face, a reality where the market and the industry is taking the lead on decarbonisation and emissions reductions because this government and this minister for resources refuse to.

I dream about grandchildren, but now is not the time to dream about miracles. It's not the time to procrastinate. Now is the time for quite a harsh reality check. That means getting on board the renewables train and acting with conviction. That's what the resources sector is doing. They're not just getting on that train—they have had to build the tracks. They have had to build the train and the signals, and now they're having to drive that train as well. They're having to do all the heavy lifting and the hard yards in the absence of political will, stymied by this government that could pave the way for a prosperous Australia and a prosperous future. The minister for resources refuses to hop on that train. He refuses to get on board. The Prime Minister refuses to hop on that train. I say that, if they're refusing to hop on that train, they should get out of the way, because the train's coming.

Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's an honour to follow the member for Cowan for what I suggest sounded a lot like a valedictory speech, but it is time for us to have a reality check.

Opposition Member:

An opposition member interjecting

Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think I've scratched an itch!

When I read this motion, I thought to myself, 'Pinch yourself, Tony; you're still dreaming.' The suggestion of those opposite is that our government has abandoned the Australian resources industry and jobs. I am pretty clear that that hasn't happened, but I will tell you what did happen. It's not something I determined; the people of Australia determined it in 2019. The blue collar workers in the Australian resources industry in 2019 had a decision to make, and they made it pretty clear. They made it in Western Australia in droves. They made it in Queensland in droves. We had one proposal where our government said we'd reduce emissions by 26 to 28 per cent, meet Kyoto I and II and ultimately put ourselves on a path to meet and beat our targets in Paris. We had the member for Maribyrnong leading the Australian Labor Party with a target to reduce emissions by 45 per cent. Ultimately, those in the Australian resources sector said, 'No, thank you,' because the Australian resources sector and the blue collar workers that work within it are incredibly intelligent people. They knew what rushing to that kind of reduction target meant.

This debate isn't about emissions reductions. It's actually about the speed at which we get there. Those opposite at the last election wanted to rush to that outcome. If you want to rush to that outcome, the only tool you've got in your toolbox is a tax. If, on the other hand, you want to put yourself on a sensible trajectory, you give yourself more time to adopt technology based solutions. I suggest to those opposite that, whenever mankind has been faced with a challenge over its history, we have solved that problem using technology because, every time we try to solve that problem with a tax, it fails. The reality here is that this is a technology based solution or nothing, and we need to adopt that approach.

Those opposite bemoan us for achieving our Kyoto I target, achieving our Kyoto II target—and, by the way, those opposite don't even have a 2030 policy. They don't have a target for 2030. In fairness, this motion should say, 'We congratulate the government for being about actions and outcome, as opposed to those opposite, who are about froth and bubble.' But that's the point, isn't it? They've always been about froth and bubble. They didn't care that the mining resources rent tax didn't raise a cracker, because it sounded good in the pages of the Age and the Guardian. They weren't focused on outcomes. We are focused on outcomes. I can tell you who else is focused on outcomes: the blue collar workers of this country, not just in the Australian resources sector but right across the spectrum. They have got an incredibly attuned radar for froth and bubble and, when they hear it in the lead-up to an election, they say, 'No, thank you'.

I'm really pleased that those opposite have decided that they are for the Australian resources industry once again. It's a quantum change. We've been away from this place for some time, but you might recall that, the last time we were here, there were discussions about the Leader of the Opposition slinking his way very privately and confidentially into a coalmine. They weren't that proud about that situation then. The people of Australia get this. They don't judge people on what people say. People in my electorate say, 'Tony, we will judge you on what you do, not what you say.' Those opposite need to realise that the people of Australia are making those judgements right now. It's what you do; not what you say. It's not what target you'd like to achieve—or, for those opposite, what target you don't have. It's what target is set and you beat—what target you meet and beat. Those opposite don't even have a target, and they want to come in here and lecture us about our achievements—Kyoto 1, Kyoto 2 and on the trajectory for Paris. (Time expired)

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What an extraordinary debate this afternoon! I barely know where to begin. But I do know that the last few weeks in the House—this week and before we came back to Canberra—my observation of this government is that it has been kind of reminiscent of watching the season finale of Dallas. It's like the worst US soap opera imaginable that revolves around this kind of affluent, feuding family that makes itself wealthy from oil and cattle industries, but they're at each other and undermining the bejeezus out of one another all the time. Well, that's the coalition party room. It is like one loop of Dallas, after Dallas, after Dallas.

We have had eight years of this now—eight years of this ramshackle government, trying to get its act together on climate change, on energy or, frankly, any other number of important key policy issues for this nation. But finding its way to net zero emissions has been the most painful birth of all, and they still haven't got there; they are still in labour. They should actually let the real Labor take over and make sure that this country gets to net zero emissions by 2050. This has been the longest soap opera ever. Of course, we have had a few funny twists and turns on the way. They sent that senator, the old accountant from Queensland, down to the Hunter Valley to spread a bit of coal on his face to pretend he is at one with the people down there. As if any of our coalminers would take that bloke seriously! The government must not have understood just how disrespectful that looked to all of the hardworking men and women in that sector.

We in Newcastle know a thing or two about when big companies and global capitals start making decisions, because we had a thing called a steelworks that operated in Newcastle. My dad was a rigger at BHP. I grew up with BHP pumping jobs, energy and steel out of that factory my whole life. Like every kid, I loved the tapping of the blast furnace and seeing those flames go everywhere. But you know what? BHP made an economic decision to leave us—to leave us hanging out to dry, quite frankly. But we didn't, because the people of Newcastle are a very resilient bunch. There was a shocking effort by the then Howard Liberal government to cobble together a restructure package, but Newcastle has gone on to diversify its economic base. We are now smart manufacturers of so many things, and we're turning ourselves to the opportunities of new energy sources.

We want to be sitting at the table when those decisions get made, because we have a lot of skin in the game. We have a lot of people tied up in jobs that have a finite future. We know that when global capital make a big decision, they don't bother turning around and asking all the workers how they're going to get on. You have to be ready. You have to have some plans on the table. That is why I have pleaded with this government, for eight years now, to get their climate change policy sorted out and to stop the arguing. Seriously; there are still people there arguing about the basic science of climate change.

You have to have a plan on the table that is going to take advantage of green hydrogen and that's going to take advantage of offshore wind. Finally, this week, we've seen a piece of legislation in this parliament. It has taken this government eight years to figure out that it needs some legislation to enable offshore wind to actually occur in this country.

We want to take advantage of the opportunities for high-end manufacturing. I don't want us just to have offshore wind farms; I want us to be manufacturing the towers and the blades that we currently have to buy from overseas. They are good, real, permanent jobs that we need. We've got to diversify our economic base; otherwise you leave carbon-intensive regions like mine hanging out to dry.

Damian Drum (Nicholls, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's an interesting topic for this debate—that apparently this government has somehow or other abandoned the Australian resources industry. Looking at the facts, it couldn't be anything further from the truth. Our resources are demanding record prices. Thermal coal prices are soaring and gas prices are soaring. Quantities are up, so our exports are increasing. Employment numbers in the sector are high. Yet somehow or other the opposition thinks that we as a government have abandoned this sector. It is quite amazing, really.

When you listen to most of the opposition talk about this, you find it's not about the sector at all; it's about net zero 2050. Therefore, you look at the record of the government in relation to reducing emissions, and it is a fantastic record by any account. Our commitments under Kyoto 1 have been met and those under Kyoto 2 have been met. We were criticised relentlessly throughout all of those programs and told we were never going to meet those targets, but we did. We were criticised relentlessly and told we were never going to meet our Paris targets. They were saying, 'The only way you're ever going to meet those Paris targets is by some clever accounting, when you take over the surplus that you accumulated with Kyoto.' But that's not true either. We're going to meet our Paris commitments.

Now I'll look forward to some of the other things we're doing in relation to reducing emissions. Why doesn't anybody ever give this government credit for Australia being a nation that leads the world in rooftop solar, ahead of Germany and Japan? You can add those two together and they just equal the amount of rooftop solar that we have in Australia, on a per capita basis. The things that we are doing in agriculture, with additives and supplements to reduce the methane being emitted by stock, are, again, leading the world. There are the policies put in place by the Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia in relation to sequestering carbon within the soil, putting together some reserves on less productive farmland to ensure that we can sequester carbon within those timber reserves.

As the previous speaker from the coalition said, there are two ways that we can get to the place where we all want to be—that is, a clean environment. We could try to do it with taxes, and we know that that's the Labor way. But, Mr Deputy Speaker, look at the recent technology advancements in solar panels. Over the last five years the cost of solar panels has effectively halved, and their efficiency has doubled. We would be reasonably confident that we will get similar advancements in technology surrounding batteries and the technology surrounding hydrogen, but at the moment they're just not there. The advancements that we are yearning for simply do not exist. We're confident that that's where we're going. We're confident we'll get to where we want to be. If you want to just jump in with a blindfold on, good luck! But we don't want regional Australia to take on the same risk. It's only reasonable that the National Party, in looking after people in the most energy intensive areas and in looking after the poorest people in Australia, who have the most trouble paying their energy bills and who will be at risk if we put in place policies that force the cost of energy up, want to put in place safeguards. It is something that we feel very comfortable with. Yes, I think there's every chance that we will be in a situation where we do get the technology that we need. But, right at the moment, industry is charging ahead, and industry needs dispatchable power, and we simply don't have dispatchable power in our renewables at the moment. We haven't got Snowy Hydro 2.0 built. We haven't got enough battery within our solar farms. Our large scale-wind—we still don't have enough battery there. And effectively we haven't got hydrogen to where we need to get it.

Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time for the discussion has concluded.