Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Industry and Science. What do scientific experts, including at the CSIRO, tell us about the best way to deliver reliable, affordable clean energy? Which approaches are found to be the most expensive?

Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Industry and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thanks to the member for Bennelong for the question. He represents an area with a terrific store of scientific and research talent. On this side of the House, we respect science. Science has long alerted us to the impact of climate change and also what we can do about it, and the evidence is clear.

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

The member for Casey will cease interjecting.

Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Industry and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Renewables will lower emissions the fastest and at the lowest cost. We know that because the national science agency, the CSIRO, does the work to help establish the facts and to outline the evidence. The government respects its work. The best way to demonstrate that respect is to listen to what they say. We can cut emissions and grow jobs. That's what our Future Made in Australia plan is all about—mobilising Australian manufacturers to make the things that can reduce emissions and create secure jobs. We are getting on with that job. On our watch, there's been about a 25 per cent increase in renewables into the grid and over 50 renewable projects approved—enough to power three million homes—creating jobs for welders, engineers, electricians, steelworkers and riggers. They're not just workers in our cities but workers in regional areas, where blue-collar workers can see a pipeline of work that can sustain them in their communities.

Renewable energy projects that deliver cheaper energy and more jobs now—not decades down the track—are how you deliver cost-of-living relief. It's not by pushing up power prices with the most expensive form of power going, nuclear. The CSIRO's GenCost report couldn't be clearer about the cost of the coalition's one-page nuclear power plan. Nuclear power is at least eight times more expensive to deliver than solar and wind, and the earliest that nuclear power could be ready is 2040. We can get this job done today without spending the extraordinary amounts of taxpayer dollars on the coalition's one-page nuclear plan. It's policy on a post-it note.

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

Order! The member for Fadden and the member for Fairfax will cease interjecting.

Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Industry and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's what the Liberals and Nationals are pushing. On that side, they use voodoo economics ignoring the evidence—but not just that; they're actively undermining it. We had Senator Canavan accuse the CSIRO, in his words, 'of living in a fantasy land of spreadsheets'. I don't know what Excel's ever done to him, but he's got big beef with it. The coalition delivers policy on a post-it note and then chips scientists who use spreadsheets with evidence and facts as living in a fantasy land. We also had the member for Mitchell say:

The science is absolutely clear that nuclear power will be an integral part of humanity's future. That's not just my view; it's the view of many important people and scientists …

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