Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Senate. The Greens oppose this motion for multiple reasons, which would take more than one minute to go into, but there are also a couple of very simple reasons. This would clearly make electricity far more expensive for people across the country, particularly for the battlers that are already being hit by so many of the other decisions that are being supported by the mover of this motion. Because coal-fired power stations have provided reliable electricity in the past, it does not mean that building new ones is the best way for the future.

It is clear and is already demonstrated that investing in renewable energy in a variety of means is delivering cheaper reliable energy for people across Australia, including in Queensland, as well as delivering the many, many more jobs that would come from this. This would be a massive waste of taxpayers' money. It would make electricity more expensive for everybody and also massively increase our greenhouse emissions at a time when we are already not meeting our Paris targets.