Richard Di Natale (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

That's why we see the Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce, flying around the countryside with the likes of Gina Rinehart—because he's more interested in doing the bidding of the mining and gas industry than he is in looking after farmers.

The bottom line is that we have thousands of jobs that are being sacrificed right now because of this government's commitment to the coal and gas industry. We're losing that great innovation here—it's going overseas—because we're locking ourselves into the sinking ship of fossil fuels. That's what it is. And it's a huge tragedy, because this could be a good news opportunity for Australia. We could be talking about bringing in jobs and investment and making sure that we've got a pathway for those people in regional communities. Instead, this government has locked us in into rising power prices, job losses and skyrocketing emissions. This is a disgrace, and the Prime Minister should hang his head in shame.