Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of answers given by the Minister for Women's Economic Security (Senator Hume) and the Minister for International Development and the Pacific (Senator Seselja) to questions without notice asked by Senator Gallagher and I.

It was reported that in 2019 Mr Joyce made an intriguing contribution to his Facebook page. I invite senators to really think about what these words could possibly mean. He wrote:

One of the few graces of being on the backbench is you can be honest with what your views really are. I believe this is one of the greatest policy phantoms, the misguided and quite ludicrous proposition that Australia can have any effect on the climate. If we could we should be the first to make it rain and, more importantly, stop the recurrence of an ice age anytime in the coming millennium.

That was obviously a very important contribution just a few years ago from Mr Joyce. The thing is that those are no longer the views of a humble backbencher, are they? They are the views of the Leader of the National Party and the Deputy Prime Minister of this country.

He is actually yet to unveil his plan to stop the recurrence of an ice age—and I look forward to his announcements—but his opposition to acting on climate change is on full display. He has said: 'The Nationals have always been opposed to a net zero target'. He also said: 'If the Nationals supported net zero emissions, we would cease to be a party that could credibly represent farmers.' Well, it's going to be news to the farmers, isn't it, because the body actually constituted to represent farmers, the National Farmers Federation, does support net zero. But it's certainly Mr Joyce's view and he hasn't been quiet about it at all. On a day when the vast majority of Australians, in a poll that's out today, have confirmed their very strong preference for investment in renewables, it's worth considering his views on that.

He said: 'What is this insane lemming-like desire to go to renewables going to do to our economy?' He also said: 'If you want zero emissions, nuclear power does it.' So my question to the moderates in the Liberal Party—and I'm pleased to see that there's a couple of them remaining in the chamber and one just leaving now—what are you going to do about it?

Dr Katy Allen has said that she will be a strong voice in the party room for stronger action on climate change. She says: 'I have been and will continue to be a strong voice for climate action inside the tent. I am working on influencing that agenda. We need to have higher ambition to lead the world in renewables.' Is Dr Allen going to be as strong a voice as Mr Joyce?

Mr Dave Sharma, a man who understands all too well the fury of a Liberal electorate that's been betrayed on climate change, has said that Australia needs to be acting with a higher level of ambition. He has also said:

We've allowed something that should really be a conventional policy challenge to become a kind of culture and values issue. It shouldn't be the third rail of Australian politics.

What is Mr Sharma going to do? What is Mr Sharma's plan?

What has Mr Trent Zimmerman got to say? He told Fairfax that Australians want to get on with the job of meeting our Paris emissions targets while looking at what more we can do to reduce our emissions further. What will Mr Zimmerman do to have the government commit to reducing emissions further than what was agreed at Paris? That's the challenge, isn't it? It's the challenge for Mr Zimmerman. It's the challenge for Dr Allen. It's a challenge for Mr Sharma. It's a challenge for others, like Mr Falinski, Mr Wilson, Mr Evans and Ms Hammond. It's a challenge for those in this place too, isn't it? Those like Senator Hume, Senator Payne, Senator Paterson, Senator Bragg and Senator Birmingham, who once held the portfolio of environment.

We know that there are people remaining in the Liberal Party who do believe that humans are driving dangerous climate change. Senator Birmingham is quite welcome to get up and confirm his support for that, if he'd like to. We know there are people who support real action on emissions. We know there are moderate Liberal parliamentarians who have made a public commitment to that, not just here but to their electorates—all those people they've given a nod and a wink to. You've all told your electorates that, when the time comes, you will stand up for their interests—all those people out there in your electorates who actually want you to do something about climate change. The Deputy Prime Minister is now a man who is more worried about a coming ice age than he is about global warming. What will you do to keep your promise to the people who've supported you?