Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to rise in opposition to this Greens bill, the Galilee Basin (Coal Prohibition) Bill 2018. I start my contribution by saying that as a regionally based senator in Victoria I am incredibly concerned about what bills like this may do if they are ever passed—it doesn't look like there's any prospect of that for this bill—in terms of undermining jobs in our resources sector and in the mining sector, in particular.

In opposing coalmining in the Galilee Basin, the Greens are putting at risk around 1,500 direct jobs and almost 7,000 supporting jobs at the Adani Carmichael mine. These are real families and communities which depend on a strong and viable resources industry. As I say, this could well be the first of a number of bills from the Greens to totally shut down and abolish mining in Australia. This is an industry which generates $279 billion—these are the 2018-19 figures—with coal itself generating some $70 billion. The Greens policies will put at risk the jobs of nearly 14,000 people employed during construction of mines and associated rail projects, the jobs of more than 11,000 people employed in ongoing roles in the mines and supporting infrastructure and $34 billion invested in bringing the mines into production as well as new infrastructure, including rail infrastructure. The coal industry contributes more than $6 billion annually in royalties across Australia and accounts for over 50,000 direct jobs, with the majority of those jobs in regional areas.

This is quite ironic. It comes at a time when the Labor Party has announced its so-called plan for net zero emissions by 2050, which, as I have already said publicly this morning, is not a plan but a slogan. It's unfunded and uncosted, and I think Australians have every right to feel pretty confused about where Labor sits at the moment. On the one hand, it's talking about zero emissions, with no consideration for the economy-wide impact that that might have, particularly the impact that that might have on coal, steel, aluminium and other extractive industries. So there's no consideration of the broader ramifications. It is talking about this so-called plan—or, as I say, slogan—without any plan whatsoever. It's uncosted. It's unfunded. So, as I say, Australians have every right to be very confused about Labor's position.

Labor's reliance on, and alliance with, the Greens continues to threaten Australia's coal industry, which is a key pillar of our economy and which provides cheap and secure electricity and jobs and funds vital services. Labor talks about energy security, including through gas and coal, and yet we have a situation in Victoria where the Victorian Labor government is continuing its moratorium on onshore conventional gas. It says it's okay to extract the gas offshore—the same gas in the same basin—but not onshore. This is an extraction and exploration that does not require fracking. So that particular contention that some make needs to be put to rest. We have a situation where Labor is actively operating to destabilise the energy market in Victoria, including by encouraging the shutdown of Hazelwood.

Depending on who you talk to in the Labor Party, you hear a different story. There is a huge internal war going on in the Labor Party. The Otis group has one view and then there are others on the Left who have a very different view. For instance, Mr Fitzgibbon lauds the prospect of Australia's clean and efficient coal on the back of demand in China and India. And then other Labor MPs have repeatedly opposed or undermined the Adani project and the opening up of the Galilee Basin for coalmining.

We heard Senator Sterle speaking in very supportive terms about Adani, and yet that's in stark contrast to what was heard leading up to the election when many Labor MPs, including the former Leader of the Opposition Mr Shorten were condemning Adani. Then, of course, there's Mr Marles, the member for Corio, Labor's deputy leader, who argued that it was a good thing that the thermal coal market would collapse. So here we are: Mr Marles is continuing to ignore the continued demand for thermal coal, especially in the developing economies of Asia, and then we have another very, very different story here in the chamber today.

I also want to place on record that the member for Hindmarsh, Mr Butler, the shadow for climate change and energy said 'development of the Galilee Basin is not in Australia's national interest' and declared it would 'not be a positive thing for Australia for the Adani mine to go ahead.' I am not sure how that sits with the contribution that we have just heard from Senator Sterle, but it does reinforce the position that Labor is all at sea when it comes to its position on coal.

But I tell you what, the coalminers of Australia worked it out. They worked it out before the last election—55,000 of them. They worked it out. Whether they work in a coalmine, whether they work in industry, in heavy industries. or whether they work as a manufacturer, they worked out that Labor deserted them in the lead-up to the last election. Their policies were totally contrary to the needs of many blue-collar workers in Australia. They worked out that the only party standing up for them is the Liberal National Party. And it's a bit of a joke when you hear contributions from Senator Sterle after what we have heard in recent months. The Leader of the Opposition went to the north of Sydney and up to Brisbane, telling one story in the north of Queensland and then another very different story when he went down to Melbourne.

We very much condemn this bill. I want to also place on record that our government is working extremely hard to drive down emissions and is having substantial success, including—and this is the Energy Security Board—delivering renewable investment as a proportion of total energy of 40 per cent by 2030. Last year 16 per cent of supply came from renewables. By 2022 it will be 27 per cent. By 2030 it will be 40 per cent. So very, very substantial investment is going into renewables, driving our renewable energy industry, driving down emissions, but not in a way that will be economy wrecking and not in a way that will undermine our coal and gas industries, which are very important for our entire energy security. I thank the chamber for the opportunity to speak on this bill. I, again, reiterate our opposition to this bill.