Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister confirm that nearly a third of the emissions reductions he hopes to claim for his policy of net zero by 2050 come from technological innovations that don't exist yet and global technology trends which are out of Australia's control?

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

I can confirm that 15 per cent of the emissions reductions that come as a result of the government's plan will be from global technology trends. I confirm that it includes 20 per cent reductions that have already occurred. Our policies have already seen a 20 per cent reduction in emissions, which is greater than the United States, the OECD average, Japan, Canada and New Zealand. Australia's actions and outcomes on reducing emissions speak far louder than the claims and the words of others. I can confirm that 40 per cent of those reductions come from the Technology Investment Roadmap technologies, which go to clean hydrogen and getting that under $2 a kilo; ultralow-cost solar, at under $15 per megawatt hour; getting energy storage under $100 per megawatt hour; getting low-emission steel and aluminium steel production under $700 per ton and aluminium under $2,200 per tonne; and getting carbon capture and storage, something opposed by the Labor Party, down to under $20 per tonne of CO2.

The Leader of the Opposition interjects. He says it's not true. Well, if that's not true, why is the Labor Party voting against it in the Senate?

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

The Manager of Opposition Business on a point of order?

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, on direct relevance—

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

You abolished the fund.

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

The Leader of the Opposition!

The Leader of the Opposition, I'm trying to hear the Manager of Opposition Business.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On direct relevance—the question goes to two parts of that document. He's not referring to either of them at the moment. It goes to the global technology trends part of it and the technological innovations that don't exist yet. He's now going to other sections, and that's where he's been spending most of his answer.

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

The Prime Minister's been referring to a number of things in the answer. The question asked him to confirm those two things. So, in the time available, I'm just going to ask the Prime Minister to come back to the question.

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

I was outlining the entire emissions reduction, which those other two factors sit within the context of. I said 40 per cent is on those technologies we're already funding and supporting through the lower emissions technology road map. There is 10 to 20 per cent on international and domestic offsets, and there is up to 15 per cent on further technology breakthroughs. And I say to the Leader of the Opposition and the Labor Party, what have they got against technology? Why do they not have confidence that, in the next 30 years, in the world today, we will not see technology breakthroughs which will ensure that we'll be able to close the gap? If that's the case, they should never use one of these, because they don't believe they exist! An iPhone would never have existed if it was based on the assumptions of the Leader of the Opposition. He wouldn't have thought any of these things would happen. We wouldn't have had a COVID vaccine because it hadn't been developed two years ago, not even one year ago—or not much more than one year ago.

So, yes, it's true. I have more confidence in technological innovation and science than I do in taxes and regulations put on the Australian people by the Labor Party.