Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This is what the Australian Labor Party do in these sorts of debates. When you've got them skewered, what do they do? They raise these frivolous points of order to try to distract people from the issues where the Australian Labor Party are so out of step with the Australian people.

We as a government are very clear: we believe that technology is the way to go. In my home state of Tasmania, Snowy Hydro 2.0, is a great example of government investing. Similarly, it's a great idea for the federal government to also invest in a feasibility study for a coal-fired power station in North Queensland. The two are not incompatible. Indeed, if we had spent just a very small fraction of the money spent on renewables on retrofitting our coal-fired power stations in Australia, we could have more energy and a 30 per cent reduction in our emissions. If only we could have done that with the taxpayer money.

Other countries are referred to. What's the biggest industry in New Zealand? It is agriculture. And what have they done? They've said, 'We will commit to an emissions target, but'—out of the side of their mouth—'we won't be including agriculture in that.' Oh, really! Let's get a sense of reality. The Australian people are smarter. That's why they voted for us on 18 May.