Max Chandler-Mather (Griffith, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. Your government has approved three new coal projects and supports new gas. However, the International Energy Agency has been clear that, in order to avoid catastrophic climate change, no country can open any new coal and gas, while the International Institute for Sustainable Development has said there is a large consensus that new oil and gas fields are incompatible with limiting warming to 1.5 degrees. Can the minister explain whether the government supports these findings? And, if so, how can he justify new coal and gas?

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 I thank him for the opportunity to talk about everything this government has done over the past 15 months in relation to acting on climate change after 10 years of denial and delay. The honourable member quotes the IEA. The IEA is a very important organisation. If the honourable member is going to quote the IEA—and he's quite entitled to do that—he should quote the IEA in full: all their views about all things, including carbon capture and storage, for example, which is not I think a view the honourable member shares, and he would not quote the IEA in that regard.

In relation to climate change, I'm very proud of the fact that this government has finally given Australia a climate change act with a significant increase in the targets. I'm very proud of the fact that we brought the Climate Change Authority back, to give independent advice to the government of the day, as it should, in a transparent way. I'm very proud of the fact that we've changed the objectives of the CFC and Arena and so many other government organisations to actually finally put us on track for net zero emissions. I'm very proud of the fact that we've funded $20 billion in Rewiring the Nation to upgrade our energy grid, because there's no transition without transmission. I'm very proud of the fact that we're improving, including today, community engagement on that transmission. I'm very proud of that fact. There may be things the honourable member doesn't support.

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

The member for Herbert is warned. And I'll call the member for Griffith.

Max Chandler-Mather (Griffith, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On relevance, Mr Speaker, the question went specifically to coal and gas and whether the government accepts the findings of the IEA and other bodies that have said we can't have new coal and gas. He didn't mention coal and gas once in that entire answer.

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

The minister is reminded to be directly relevant to the question. There are a number of parts to the question. He can answer as he sees fit. But I'll listen to him carefully to make sure he is being relevant. So far, he is talking about the subject matter in the question, and he still has one minute and 30 seconds remaining. The minister has the call.

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

This government believes in a holistic approach to Climate Change. The honourable member likes to pick things out—we've got this project, we've got that project. He doesn't acknowledge the sweeping reforms this government is putting into place, like finally ensuring that Australia has an offshore wind industry, declaring the first two zones and beginning the process for more, for delivering a capacity investment scheme to drive gigawatts of renewable energy investment across this country—something those opposite promised and never delivered—to give the safeguard reforms teeth to actually drive reforms that will be the equivalent of two-thirds of Australia's cars' emissions between now and 2030. And while we are talking about cars, the minister for transport and I are driving a fuel efficiency standard so that Australia finally catches up with the rest of the world and has a fleet that is low- and no-emissions and stops being the only major economy apart from Russia without fuel efficiency standards, which was something the previous government left us with.

I'm proud of the fact we've signed the Global Methane Pledge and joined the Climate Club, both well overdue as well. I am proud of the fact we've passed the electric vehicle discount, which has driven an uptake, in our short time in office so far, of electric vehicles from two per cent to eight per cent.

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

The member for O'Connor will cease interjecting.

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

I saw a shadow minister on television the other day saying, 'Electric vehicle sales were going through the roof under the coalition.' It must have been a very low roof, because they did nothing for 10 years and we're fixing up the mess.