George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

May I finish, please, Senator Wong, without being interjected on? Senator Bilyk, as I've tried to point out in this chamber many, many times, we are not going to make the mistake that the former Labor government made or that the state Labor governments in South Australia and Victoria and Queensland have made of putting ideology ahead of engineering. Our objective, Senator Bilyk, is to ensure that Australian households have reliable and affordable power. That is our objective. We acknowledge, Senator—as, if I may say so, should you—that of course there will be an energy mix. There will be a mix of fossil fuels, including coal. There will be renewables. There will be other energy sources. With the passage of time, no doubt the share of that energy mix from renewables will increase, but, for the time being and for the foreseeable future, coal and other fossil fuels will continue to be a very important part of that energy mix. We are not going to allow either an ideological obsession with coal or a felt need to outflank the Greens in appealing to the green Left ideology to dictate our policy. Our policy is not ideological, unlike yours, Senator Bilyk. Our policy is pragmatic. It is a policy of whatever works to keep the lights on, to keep power as affordable as possible and to keep supply reliable.