Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Always, when I making a point that hurts the Greens, they make these spurious points of order. Can I just remind those who might be listening that we were talking about the health and the beauty of the Great Barrier Reef. Senator Waters, in her speech, said that the Adani coalmine is going to cause the death of the Great Barrier Reef—those are her words, not mine.

Mr Acting Deputy President, I refer you to the chief scientist of Australia, Dr Finkel, at estimates just two weeks ago. After I said to Dr Finkel:

… we emit less than 1.3 per cent of the world's carbon emissions.

I asked Dr Finkel:

If we were to reduce the world's emissions of carbon by 1.3 per cent, what impact would that make on the changing climate of the world?

Dr Finkel replied 'virtually nothing'. If anyone wants to see that exchange, it is on my Facebook. It is the actual video recording of me asking Dr Finkel those questions and his response.

Even if you shut Australia down completely and stopped every emission from Australia—the 1.3 per cent of the world's carbon emissions that Australia emits—according to the Chief Scientist, that would have virtually no impact whatsoever on the changing climate of the world. Yet the previous speaker would have any gullible listeners believe that Adani building a railway line and opening a coalmine 500 kilometres west of the Great Barrier Reef is somehow going to destroy the Great Barrier Reef.

The hypocrisy and the absolute deliberate mistruth of those statements just leaves me almost speechless. I cannot believe that a colleague in this chamber could so deliberately misstate facts that she tries to infer to the gullible listeners are truths. I cannot understand how Senate colleagues can be a part of that. Listen to Dr Finkel: any reduction in Australia's emissions will have virtually no impact on the changing climate of the world. That is the truth, that is the fact and that is the scientific opinion. But would you have Senator Waters and her mates in the Greens political party ever conceding that? Yet she talks about science and scientists. There is science! There is an opinion from the Chief Scientist of Australia, and that should be taken as fact. Senator Waters said, 'We have more cyclones and bushfires now because Adani is going to build a railway line 500 kilometres away from the Barrier Reef.' Who could possibly believe that? But the Greens go around convincing themselves that it is right and convincing the ever-dwindling band of fanatics who follow the Greens political party of those misstatements and outright lies.

The jobs to be created from this project mean so much to my state of Queensland—particularly to Townsville, where I am based. I know that Senator O'Sullivan has more detailed statistics on this and he will inform the Senate of these later, but I can tell you that this is the biggest thing that has ever happened to Central and North Queensland. That is why the Labor mayor, the Labor Premier and all of the Liberal-National Party state and federal members who represent those areas are totally and unanimously in support of this project. I do not have the statistics—I am sure Senator O'Sullivan will—but there are about 300 conditions placed upon Adani by Queensland and Commonwealth environmental authorities on the things they have to do in the construction and the development of the coalmine. They are some of the most stringent conditions I have seen imposed on any development application in Australia. Adani have accepted them and will follow them. As a result, according to the experts—Senator Waters claims that she is the expert—the scientists in the department of the environment in Queensland and the department of the environment federally, who have been through the conditions, if these conditions are met then the environment is perfectly safe. The suggestion that we will have bushfires and cyclones because Adani is building a coalmine 500 kilometres inland is just absolutely ludicrous and typical of the Greens political party.

We have heard the allegations about donations to the Labor Party and the Liberal Party. I do not know whether that is true or not; I have never seen them and I am not part of it. But I do know that the Greens political party received the biggest donation in Australia's political history from a businessman donor. Then, coincidentally, would you believe, a couple of weeks after that—I am one of the few Senators who was here for this—the then leader of the Greens political party moved that offline or community newspapers should be tax exempt. And guess who was proposing to open such a newspaper? None other than Mr Graeme Wood: the guy who gave $1.6 million, the biggest donation ever in Australia's political history, to the Greens political party.

Senator Waters went on to say that coal is destroying the world. We know, as a matter of fact, that China opens one new coal fired power station every week and we know that India—and these are the two biggest, most populous countries in the world—continues to build coal fired power stations. We know that even Germany, the epitome of goodness and light environmentally these days, has just completed a coal fired power station.

We also know that the poor people of India and China are as much entitled to electricity as Senator Waters is, sitting in her ivory tower in Brisbane or the Gold Coast. She can have air conditioning, she can have electricity and she can turn on the stove and get instant heat. But she does not want the people of India or China to do that. No, no, no! It is okay for her and her Greens mates but no good for the poor people—the destitute people—of India and China. The clean energy projects that create the jobs that Senator Waters continues to talk about—most of those jobs are created overseas, and those that are created in Australia are hugely subsidised by the Australian taxpayer.

Time is running out for me, unfortunately, but can I just again highlight the unfortunate misinformation that was contained in the speech that was delivered to the Senate just before mine? It was on broadcast day, of course. Greens senators always make sure they make these outrageous claims on broadcast day. No decision has been made, as far as I am aware—unless it has happened in the last five minutes, and I do not even know whether Adani have applied for it—about any money that the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility might give to Adani. Senator Waters said that taxpayers are going to give Adani $1 million. Clearly, if—and I emphasise that if—the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility gives them anything, it will be a loan repayable with interest on commercial terms.

I also re-emphasise that nothing that Adani will do will in any way have any impact on the Great Barrier Reef. Again, I refer people to Hansardit is there; look at it yourself, do not believe me. Look at Hansard and look at the video clip, where I said to Dr Finkel:

… if we reduce the world's carbon emissions by 1.3 per cent--

Which is what Australia emits—

what impact would that have on the changing climate of the world?

Dr Finkel: Virtually nothing.

Virtually none! And so Senator Waters claims that Adani are going to kill the reef, bring cyclones and bring bushfires are just so much scaremongering. As I said, I am speechless to find the term for my disgust of for colleague in this chamber telling such deliberate and outright untruths in a debate such as this.

Thank you, Adani, for what you are doing for the unemployed people in Townsville and Central Queensland, who I care about. Clearly, Senator Waters does not care about them but I care about them. Thank you, Adani, on behalf of all the small businesses, the mums and dads who were struggling to stay open, for what your project will mean for Townsville and North and Central Queensland. Thank you for that. Thank you for what you have done around the world—helping schools and helping children; helping the poor to get electricity. And thank you for being a good corporate citizen for Australia. Long may you reign! All the very best, and I speak on behalf of everyone in Queensland in saying all the best for your project. (Time expired)