Hollie Hughes (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

It says an awful lot about this new government that on a day when inflation has now risen to 6.1 per cent—the highest in decades—their priority is to legislate an emissions reduction target. They are more focused on handing power to bureaucrats, creating a lawyer's picnic, putting in legislation that will tie Australia's hands behind its back when competing on the international stage and pushing up power prices. On a day that inflation rises to its highest level in decades, at a time when Australian families are feeling the pinch every which way they turn, this government is focused on what is fundamentally a virtue signal that will punish everyday Australians and Australian businesses.

To reach this emissions target we will need to shut down every coal-fired power station in this country. In light of the war in Ukraine, the German Greens are leading the way in Germany with the fact that, to ensure that they have affordable, reliable, dispatchable power, they are turning back to coal-fired power generation. We have some of the best coal in the world here. We can create jobs. We can increase our mining sector. We can help bolster our coal-fired power generation, and we can help everyday Australians and make sure they can turn the dishwasher on after six pm.