Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I am certain of one thing, and that is that President Biden won't be making his calls or scheduling his call list on the advice of Senator Hanson-Young or the Australian Greens. What I do know is that the new US administration—who we congratulate upon their election, and we welcome the opportunity to work with them—have already engaged deeply with building relationships across the Australian government. The Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor have each spoken with our foreign minister, Minister Payne. The Secretary of Defense has spoken with Senator Reynolds, as Minister for Defence; and Mr John Kerry, President Biden's climate envoy, has spoken with Minister Taylor, our Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction. So engagement has occurred there, and I have no doubt that discussions between President Biden and the Prime Minister will occur in short order. Those discussions are occurring between our government and the new US administration, as you would expect, right across each of the portfolio levels.

I also categorically reject the description of 'laggard', or whatever term it was that Senator Hanson-Young used. The statistics show very clearly that Australia's record in relation to emissions reduction stands well compared with the rest of the world. Between 2005 and 2020, Australia's emissions fell by nearly 17 per cent—by 16.6 per cent, to be precise. This compares with an OECD average emissions reduction of nine per cent, New Zealand's emissions reduction of around one per cent, or Canada's emissions reduction of less than one per cent. These are the comparisons that show Australia's track record is strong, just as our intention to continue to drive the technological change that will deliver further emissions reduction is resolute. (Time expired)