Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Why is the safeguard mechanism important to Australia's future, and what is standing in the way of getting it done?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today's report from the IPCC is a sobering reminder of the urgency of addressing climate change, and the Australian people understand there is a need to act. Last May, they sent a clear message that the decade of denial needed to end and we needed to act on climate change, that we needed to act in order to seize the opportunities for job creation in the new industries that will come. Those opposite had a decade of refusing to acknowledge that the cheapest form of new investment is renewables. We had, time after time, people standing up here talking about how Liddell was going to stay open and all these things were going to happen, and none of it did, of course. They talked about building a new coal-fired power station at Collinsville. They funded a study with the actual proponents of that private-sector project, using taxpayer funds, but, of course, that didn't happen either.

Business wants certainty, and that's why they want the safeguard mechanism to be carried. How do we do that? We need the mechanism, which was in fact put in place originally by the former government. But they are so committed to saying no to everything and becoming a 'no-alition' they're even saying no to their own policies.

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on a point of order—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The manager will resume his seat. I ask the Prime Minister to refer to the coalition as the coalition.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The wambulance raced up there!

Opposition members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, members on my left! The Prime Minister will return to the question.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The business community are crying out for certainty. The chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Andrew Mackellar, said this:

For the sake of certainty and the achievement of our emissions reduction goals, the Safeguard Mechanism must pass parliament.

Just this morning, the former energy security board chair, Kerry Schott—appointed by those opposite, not by us; by the former coalition government—said:

It would be a great shame—in fact, it would be really awful—if the safeguard mechanism didn't get up. It really must be passed to be able to meet the 43 per cent target that the government has set.

But those opposite just stand in the way. They are so determined to say no to absolutely everything that they're now even saying no to their own policy.

In spite of the fact that the Leader of the Opposition told the Financial Review conference that all these businesses were saying they were okay with the coalition saying no, the truth is that they can't name any of the significant industry groups who are saying anything other than, 'Put this through.' AiG, ACCI and the Business Council of Australia all know that this has got to get done.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I give the call to the honourable member for Riverina.

Government members interjecting —

Order, members on my right!