Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. Why are the government's safeguard mechanism reforms so critical? What will be the consequences if the changes do not pass?

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question and thank him for his very substantial policy contribution in this House.

Our country is on the cusp of a transformation to be a sophisticated, industrial powerhouse built on renewable energy. That is the opportunity for our country. That is the opportunity for our nation, but only with the right policies. A very important policy part of that is the National Reconstruction Fund, which recently passed the House—and congratulations to the industry minister, and we look forward to it passing the Senate as well. This is very important for co-investment. The other part of the equation is the framework necessary to encourage that investment with industry and business. Today is exactly 100 days until 1 July. On 1 July this country, after a decade of denial and delay, can have a policy regime which encourages that investment in renewable energy, which encourages that investment in decarbonisation. That is the opportunity before the House.

I'm asked by the honourable member what the consequences would be of not passing it. We know the coalition is against it. They're against everything. The member for Bass has described her own party's position as going nowhere, and of course she is correct. But what can't go nowhere is climate policy in this country. That is the opportunity for this parliament over the next fortnight. The consequences of the safeguard reforms not passing are very real. They are very real for our region, very real for the Pacific. Our targets of 43 per cent, which were legislated by this parliament last year, will not be met without passing the safeguard mechanism. Our projections show that, in fact, the achievement by 2030 would be 35 per cent.

That is the choice facing this parliament. Targets can be set. It's easy to call for higher targets. It's easy to call for more action. The difficult part is implementing that action. This government is putting action forward before this parliament for endorsement and putting action forward to the business community and the country for cooperation, to work together to get this job done. It is not acceptable for this country, after 10 years, to say: 'Thirty-five per cent is good enough.' We have to aim higher, do more and work harder. That's exactly what this government is inviting the parliament to do with us.

The consequences of not passing this legislation, of not passing safeguard reforms—for business, who are crying out for this certainty, for people, who are crying out for more action—are very real indeed. This government will continue to implement the policies we took to the election. We'll continue to work with people of good faith and goodwill to see them implemented well, and we will ensure that this parliament makes progress, not a point. The choice is to squander this opportunity or seize it. It's time to seize it.