Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's very interesting that the Nationals get up here and wonder why they're being criticised. It's clear that the Nationals would like to have things both ways. They'd like to be in government but not be criticised for their decisions. They'd like to be in government but not be responsible for governing the country. We are asking what the Morrison-Joyce government's policy is on net zero. What we got from the ministers opposite today was nothing short of confusion, because what the Nationals spill did yesterday was launch this country into confusion and chaos. For anyone who thinks that this was just a routine shifting of the chairs, let's just wait and see what happens over the next couple of weeks. Here in question time today they weren't able to answer simple questions about what the government's policy is. These are the people running the country, and they can't tell us what their policies are when it comes to net zero emissions.

We know that the Nationals spill was all about selfishness and self-interested people who are out there protecting their own jobs but not protecting the jobs of everyday Australians. They're particularly not protecting the jobs of the regional Australians that they say they stand up for. They say that this is all about jobs, but it is about their own jobs. It is about making sure that Mr Joyce returns as Deputy Prime Minister, that his salary goes up while wages are going down for everybody else. This was about returning Senator McKenzie to the frontbench, someone who resigned after the sports rorts affair. We know that nobody else in this government has been held accountable for anything that they have done. We need to know what the Nationals coalition agreement will be, what is in it. If they don't make it public, then there is a good reason why.

They say that they care about jobs, but, if the Nationals and the Liberals really cared about jobs in regional Queensland, then they would do something to ensure that workers that do the same job get paid the same wage. It's very simple. They have done nothing to stop rampant labour hire bringing down the wages of people in regional Queensland. If they cared about jobs in regional Queensland, as they say they do—and we had the minister today talking about investment in renewable energy—then why did Minister Pitt veto a wind farm in Far North Queensland that would have created 250 jobs, in a region that has been smashed by COVID and needs these jobs right now? It's because they don't care about people living in Far North Queensland. They don't care about people living in regional Queensland. They only care about their own jobs.

If they really cared about the jobs in regional Queensland, then they would do something to protect the Great Barrier Reef. I know it's very inconvenient for the Nationals and for the Liberal ministers who stood up today that the Great Barrier Reef is also located in regional Queensland, but those are regional jobs too. The Great Barrier Reef supports 64,000 jobs around Queensland, and we need to protect the jobs that rely on the reef.

The net zero policy may have been an instigator for the Nationals spill, and that's why we're asking questions about it today, but I just want to remind the Senate that yesterday there was an emergency national cabinet meeting to sort out the bungled vaccine rollout. While that national cabinet meeting was happening, Nationals members of the government were out there rolling their leader. As that meeting was taking place, members of the government were rolling the Deputy Prime Minister. They should be rolling out the vaccine. People across this country do not know when they will get the vaccine. They don't know how much vaccine the government has. They need to make sure that there's certainty out there. Instead of rolling people in your own government, why don't you roll out the vaccine? Instead of fighting each other, do as you have been saying that you are doing: fight the virus. Go out there and help Australians get through this COVID crisis, instead of creating a crisis of your own government that will leave this country in more chaos, in more crisis, at a time when we can least afford it. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.