Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Absolutely, Chair. I can't help not having the last say on this, although it may not be the last say on this—

The CHAIR: I think it might be the last say because I have directed people to be relevant to the amendment.

I promise it will be, Chair. We made those speeches yesterday and we've put up this amendment today because we don't believe we should have a tax system in this place that incentivises more oil and gas exploration. We've been very clear and very honest about that. This is the time in history to be transitioning away from dirty fossil fuels and supporting the profits of multinationals, who pay very little tax and give very little back to the Australian people. In this time of climate emergency we should be transitioning.

On that point, while I acknowledge, and I always have acknowledged, that I do use petrol and petroleum products—although I am getting a new hybrid car—just because it is so doesn't mean it needs to be so in the future. We now have the technology and the know-how to transition to new technologies. We could use hydrogen generated from clean energy, for example. We could create whole new products, whole new markets and whole new industries through this transition. What that's going to require is leadership. That's all I ask for. Acknowledge we're in a climate emergency. We must change. That won't happen unless governments play a really strong role in that transition. We need to accept that there are huge opportunities in this transition. It shouldn't be seen as a cost and a risk if it's properly managed. Whether it's hot air balloons and what they're made of and driven by, whether it's your car or whether it's the clothes you wear on your body, we have the technology and the smarts to engineer our way out of this crisis if we act soon—and we must act urgently.