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

There are a number of quite predictable things in this place. It is predictable, indeed, that the Labor Party and the Greens will always seek any opportunity to play politics and do a bit of grandstanding and pursue different stunts. So of course we have a motion to suspend standing orders to bring on matters that weren't listed for debate today because they want to pursue another stunt to have a debate and do all of the different things that Labor will do just to make some sort of cheap political point along the way. It is predictable, and no doubt we will hear it in other contributions.

The opposition, the Greens and others will always seek to talk down Australia's contributions, particularly when it comes to areas such as emissions reduction. They will overlook the fact that Australia has managed to meet and beat our emissions reduction commitments over the years, that we continue to be on track to do so and that the scale of emissions reduction in Australia exceeds that of so many other nations. They will overlook the fact that there is a good point to going through the processes of having clinical debate and teasing out issues, including difficult issues of dissent and dispute that may exist across communities in Australia and right across political debate, and to doing that in a way that enables people to put their perspective and have their views heard.

That's not the Labor Party way. The Labor Party way is to try to make sure that everybody just toes the line. That's why when people dissent in their party they ultimately have to leave their party. Of course, in the Liberal and National parties, we enable people to have a freer perspective and to actually have views, to have dissent and to work through those different issues.

I have been reminded multiple times this week of former senator Doug Cameron. I remember Dougie Cameron—not always fondly—but I particularly remember a time when former Senator Cameron, speaking about life inside the Labor Party, said that it was 'a bit like having a political lobotomy'. He said:

You can't speak your mind. You can't think about some issues because they are all off the agenda.

That's how former Senator Cameron described life inside the Labor caucus, that it was a bit like having a lobotomy because you weren't allowed to speak your mind or to think about other issues. That's not the way our parties work. That's not how the Liberal and National parties work. We proudly enable our members to speak their mind, to bring different perspectives to the table and, in bringing those perspectives to the table, to be in the best possible position to address real issues. That's what we are seeking to do on the position that we will take to the Glasgow climate change conference. We will be addressing the real issues of emissions reduction and how we make sure we as a country track a pathway to build on the gains we've made in emissions reduction to date, to build on the gains we're continuing to make ahead of 2030 and to track the course towards net zero. But we will do it alongside clear plans around how we take communities with us, protect jobs and ensure that we achieve that in ways that give Australia the best possible potential for the future. We will release in relation to what we take to Glasgow those commitments, those plans, and we will do all of that when we've concluded government processes and before the Prime Minister provides those commitments in Glasgow.

For those opposite to be calling out and demanding that we do that ahead of finalising those processes is to ignore the proper processes that the government is rightly going through in addressing all of these issues. For them to be calling for us to release further modelling evidence or otherwise betrays the fact that they haven't released any such evidence. They've made commitments. They've said there will be a commitment to net zero by 2050, but I don't see any the plans, any of the modelling or anything else coming from the opposition as to how they are going to get there. As I said the other day, the opposition's policy is a bit like jumping out of a plane first and then checking to see whether your parachute has been packed. We in the government are making sure that we do all of the leg work necessary to protect regional communities, protect the jobs within them, ensure they can transition and support them. That's what we'll continue to do in the proper process, and we urge those in this chamber to oppose the opposition's attempt to disrupt business today. (Time expired)