Ben Small (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This disallowance is yet another attack on jobs, another attack on energy security and another attack on emissions reduction from those opposite. It's the latest demonstration of the Labor and Greens hypocrisy when it comes to both energy and emissions reduction policy. This is about deciding whether or not the Labor Party's climate policy—not just their party room policy but that which they adopted at their national conference on 31 March this year—combined with that of the Australian Greens, represents a retreat from Australian jobs, a retreat from energy efficiency, a retreat from hydrogen and a retreat from electric vehicles. By voting for this disallowance, every member of the Labor Party will have voted against their own national policy platform and, in the process, chosen to threaten $192 million of funding for ARENA and the almost 1,400 jobs that will flow from the programs that the agency will undertake. This new funding includes nearly $72 million to support electric-vehicle and hydrogen-vehicle infrastructure in Australia, some $52 million for microgrids in regional Australia and more than $20 million to look at how we can make heavy vehicles more fuel efficient and adopt new technologies, with $47 million to help heavy industry become more competitive and reduce energy consumption in Australia. Any senator who votes for this disallowance is voting for higher emissions, less funding for ARENA and fewer Australian jobs.

Positive stakeholder feedback on this policy has come from the Business Council of Australia, the National Farmers Federation, Ai Group, ClimateWorks, the Investor Group on Climate Change, the Australian Industry Greenhouse Network, the IPCC and the IEA. Labor themselves have previously advocated for this position. Whether it's short-sightedness or sleepwalking, the Labor Party certainly don't know where they are going on technology or on jobs, and they certainly don't know where the interests of Australian workers lie. Make no mistake: if this motion succeeds it means fewer jobs for Australians and higher emissions. By contrast, our approach is driven by technology, not taxes, and an expanded mandate for ARENA, and these investments in new technologies are essential to that.

But, instead, Labor and the Greens have decided to back environmental activists over those Australian workers when it comes to their jobs and the taxes that they pay. Senator Waters referred to, I guess, the fact that she might like to see the government in court over this. But, with the greatest of respect, the department has provided hours of answers over the legality of this regulation at Senate estimates. I remind Senator Waters of Senate estimates from 25 May:

Senator WATERS: Are you confident that the regs would survive a legal challenge?

Ms Evans: Yes.

Senator WATERS: Is there an estimate of how much it would cost the department to defend the case if it did go to court?

Ms Evans: No, we haven't made an estimate of that because we're very confident that the regulation is quite proper.

Let's call this what it is: it's the Labor Party lining up with the Greens. For all their talk about supporting coal, supporting gas, supporting jobs in our resources industry and supporting carbon capture and storage, it's just that: talk. When it comes to action, they are lining up with the Greens to vote against all of those things.