Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

The senator is absolutely right about the hundreds of coal-fired power stations that are being built around the world. There are thousands that are being planned or are in construction around the world, and many of them are using the latest technologies that produce less carbon emissions than current coal-fired power stations.

To go back to real-world examples, I will use the Boyne Island Smelter. I think what is important to note is that the Gladstone Power Station that powers that smelter is 40 years old. It has a capacity of 1,680 megawatts. It is a big power station. At some point in the future, possibly in the next decade—the Boyne Island smelter has a contract with them for the next decade, and it runs out at the end of 2020—we will need to look at refurbishing or replacing it. We would be mad not to look at the latest technologies being installed and used in our region to replace that technology. If we ignore those technologies, we most likely will not have those thousand jobs in Gladstone that I want to protect and this government wants to see survive.

The PRESIDENT: Senator O'Sullivan, a final supplementary question?