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

My question is to the Prime Minister. Now the government has signed up to Labor's policy for net zero emissions by 2050, will it also sign up to Labor's policy to fix electricity transmission and rewire the nation, which will rebuild and modernise the grid and cut energy prices?

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

I'll ask the Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction to speak to the government's transmission policies, which have been set out now in successive budgets. And I say again: we have no intention of signing up to Labor's policy when it comes to their approach to net zero emissions, because they have no plan. You cannot have a target for 2050 net zero emissions when you don't have a plan to achieve it. That is not a policy. That is just empty rhetoric from the Labor Party, looking for cheers from the hard Left. That's all it is. It's not a policy. They don't have a policy.

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

The Prime Minister will resume his seat. The Leader of the Opposition on a point of order?

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

Yes. The question went specifically to Labor's plan to rewire the nation, which I announced in my first budget reply—a $20 billion plan to fix energy transmission in this country. It went to that and whether the Prime Minister will support it.

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

I can rule on the point of order. I would normally—

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

It is precisely—

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

No, no. I'm going to actually rule on it. We're not going to have a three-way debate. Normally I would be saying to the Prime Minister that he wasn't asked about alternatives. But the first line of the question wasn't what your point of order was. The first line opened the question up, because it stated 'Now that the government has signed up to Labor's policies for net zero.' So in that sense you asked about your own broad policies and—

Opposition members interjecting—

Well, you did. I didn't ask the question. Because of that, the Prime Minister has greater tolerance, with that preamble there. I'll just say again: if you're going to have a preamble in the question, don't expect that the specific part at the end will be the only part referred to.

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

Labor's policies are about taxes. Labor's policies aren't technology not taxes. Labor's policies are about mandating people, not respecting their choices. Labor's policies aren't about getting the balance right between affordable energy and reliable energy and ensuring lower emissions. Labor's policies are just a blank cheque to cut emissions and make Australians pay for it. That's what Labor's policies are. We don't support their approach. We support an approach which is very different, that is technology not taxes, that ensures that people's choices are respected and that we do get the balance right and that we consider carefully the impact of these things on rural and regional Australia. And that's what we've been doing. Those opposite seek to mock that. They seek to mock the very serious process that the Liberals and Nationals have been going through to ensure that we can look people in rural and regional Australia in the eye and tell them we're doing everything both to protect their jobs and secure their jobs for the future. You cannot rely, in rural and regional Australia, on the Labor Party to protect your job when it comes to addressing climate change. You cannot trust them to do that, because they signed up to net zero by 2050 without a plan, without a cost, without a 2030 target, without anything. They are a vacuum when it comes to what it will cost to determine the commitments that they want to put in law. They will outlaw the prosperity of rural and regional Australia. But I will leave the remaining 40 seconds to the minister.

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Transmission projects are a critical part of ensuring we maintain a reliable, affordable grid, and we are committed to them. That's why we're supporting every major transmission project in the National Electricity Grid, whether it's Marinus Link—and I know the Tasmanians here strongly support that—whether it's PEC from South Australia, HumeLink or VNI West. These are our focus. We've got the multibillion-dollar balance sheet of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation supporting it. That's why we're seeing electricity prices coming down as we've reduced our emissions by over 20 per cent since 2005.