Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The fact of the matter is that in Australia we do rely on energy. There is no question about it: we rely on energy. And, sadly, if we want to have energy, we have to produce it. So, for those people who obviously do not like this mine—and I understand that there are quite a number of them where the mine is being located who have some concerns; I also understand that there are quite a number of them who come down from Sydney who don't like it either—the fact of the matter is that New South Wales actually imports the majority of its energy from Queensland. So there is this whole nimby idea: 'Not in my backyard'. We are quite happy for the Queenslanders to dig up their backyards so that they can send the energy down south. But Senator Waters probably would not like that. She would probably prefer it to happen in Western Australia, Senator Sterle, because we can dig up your backyard so she can have the energy—just like we will dig up Queensland backyards. I am not quite sure where Senator Milne wants to get her energy from, but, given that more than 50 per cent of Tasmania is tied up under wilderness arrangements, I do not imagine that there is much opportunity to get it from there either. So I think that we just need to be a little realistic about the total picture. (Time expired)