Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I do agree with one thing that Senator Kirk said—and only thing—and that is that there are significant differences between the ALP and the government in relation to these matters. The ALP response to this issue is a blueprint—and they toss in a steak knife as well, with something in April that will resemble a conference. So we get a blueprint and a conference, probably with the ALP state premiers.

But this government quite clearly took this issue by the horns some time ago. I think Senator Sherry was here yesterday when I alerted the chamber to the fact that 10 years ago this government set up the Australian Greenhouse Office, the world’s first agency dedicated to addressing climate change. The head of that office is now chairing various international fora in relation to this issue. Ten years ago this government started this process. The Australian Labor Party has been out of office for 11 years and the best they can do is a blueprint and a meeting with the state premiers in April or May. That is the sum total of 10 years of inactivity in relation to this issue.

Senator Kirk, you are absolutely right that there are very clear differences between the government and the opposition. One is a litany of inactivity and the other is an absolute commitment to addressing the matters that you and I know are so serious. I want to read it out again—and I will do it slowly this time because clearly there were some on the other side who were not listening yesterday. The government recognises that the best scientific advice tells us that, globally, we need to achieve large reductions in greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decades. This is the government’s position in relation to this matter. This is the Prime Minister’s view in relation to this matter. How much clearer than those words can the government’s commitment to this issue be? My colleagues on this side—Senator Scullion, who recently received a much-deserved promotion, and the Deputy Government Whip, Senator Parry—are nodding furiously because they agree with me. How can anyone express it at any stronger than that statement?

Rather than a blueprint and a meeting of like Labor minds, we need solutions. And, gee, I wonder what the state Labor premiers are going to say about this conference. Do you think they might be slightly supportive? I suspect they probably will be. It will be an election talkfest that does not address the key issues that we are confronting.

I say to Senator Kirk: it is all very well to trot out a rock star to try and convince the Australian people of the bona fides of the ALP, but it takes more substance than the lead singer of a band prancing around like a stick insect during the mating season to deal with this absolutely fundamental issue that we are confronting. Blueprints are not good enough.

In the time left to me—Senator Kirk, I have learnt my lessons well from yesterday—I want to talk about some of those things that we have done that are not blueprints but solutions, that involve real dollars to address real problems. I will go through them slowly because, clearly, there were some on the other side yesterday who were not listening. It was appalling yesterday when Senator Milne, who pretends to be concerned about these matters, through her silence did not support any of these initiatives. There is the $2 billion climate change strategy, which is focused on very practical measures; the $500 million for the Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund; the $100 million for the Renewable Energy Development Initiative; the $100 million announced as part of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate—practical, hands-on funding to address this serious issue—and the $75 million for the Solar Cities program. We are also investigating nuclear power’s potential as a low-emission energy source.

The Asia-Pacific partnership is not a blueprint, not some false meeting with Labor premiers; it is actual relationships with those who need our help and whose help we need to address this international issue. It brings together the USA, Australia, Japan, China, Korea and India. They represent 50 per cent of the global economy. It is called the AP6. The partners represent around half of the world’s emissions, energy use and population. China and India are not part of Kyoto.

We get this constant parroting from the ALP opposition about their solutions to this issue—the blueprint, the set-up forum with the state premiers and signing Kyoto. What, pray tell, does Kyoto do in relation to the emissions of China and India, two of the world’s largest emitters? As Senator Parry said, it does absolutely nothing. What does the AP6 partnership do? It brings those two large emitters in and works with them to address appropriate outcomes.

What about renewable energy? I have not read much from the Labor Party about renewable energy. We hear the Greens parroting their old slogans all the time. Where are the Greens? Why aren’t the Greens here today to listen to this debate? Where are they? It is just like Senator Bob Brown. He opposed the Telstra sale and gave his apologies during the Telstra inquiry because he was in Sydney. But where was he? Where was the man who was so concerned about Telstra? He was outside the meeting, on his mobile phone. He did not have the intestinal fortitude to go in. He is all huff and puff. Is he in here today? Is he participating? Has he spoken? I do not know. Why isn’t he here today to listen to this debate? At least the Labor Party, to their credit, are participating in the debate, though they are not adding much.

This government is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in renewable energy. That is not a blueprint. That is not some set-up conference. That is not signing up to an agreement that does nothing about the major emitters in this world whose emissions are growing by the minute, let alone by the hour, the day or the year. The government is investing real, on-the-ground dollars: $123 million for the extension of the Renewable Remote Power Generation Program over four years; $100 million for the Renewable Energy Development Initiative; $75 million for the Solar Cities program; $20 million for the advanced electricity storage initiative; $14 for the advanced wind forecasting capability; $25 million to develop renewable energy as part of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate; and $500 million for the Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund. That is not some nebulous blueprint. That is not some farcical set-up conference, enlisting the support of the state premiers. That is not high farce but big bucks on the ground, delivering outcomes.

In October last year, the Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund, the LETDF, awarded a $75 million grant to Solar Systems Pty Ltd. That grant will support the development of the world’s largest solar energy plant in Victoria. This involves real dollars going into real projects to address a real problem. It is not a blueprint. After 10 years and after having enlisted a rock star, the best Labor can do is a blueprint. Labor should be ashamed of itself. It should be ashamed of what it has not done. It should be ashamed to come in here and utter the platitudes that it does in relation to this issue.

Debate interrupted.