Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I say to Senator Waters: this is not student politics. We are actually dealing with some serious issues here. This is not about supporting buddies; this is about making sure that we have got a solid foundation to build a stronger, more prosperous economy. Of course, part of building a stronger, more prosperous economy is ensuring that we have a reliable, sustainable supply of internationally competitive energy sources. As I said in my answer to the primary question, coal, gas and other energy sources will be important parts of that.

Given that we had Dr Brown advocating for coal-fired power as the best option, I suspect that at some point we are going to see Greens Senator Ludlam from Western Australia come in here and advocate for nuclear energy. I suspect that one day Senator Ludlam will come in and advocate for nuclear energy as the clean energy solution for the world. The Greens have been on a road to Damascus with these things— (Time expired)