Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to respond to the answers from senators Gallagher and Farrell. I find interesting the constant referral to the fact that questions aren't being answered when just a brief, cursory glance at the transcript shows quite clearly that there are plenty of answers coming. There may not be sufficient listening occurring to understand those answers and then perhaps ask some further questions that may have a bit more relevance than what we have seen today.

Labor has a comprehensive fiscal plan. The Albanese Labor government has come forward with a comprehensive plan in a time of extreme uncertainty. We come in on the back of nine long years of rorts and wrecking, and our plan will start to give the country hope and start to turn that around into a productive economy and into further and better opportunities for the people of Australia. We have been clear with our approach to the October budget. We've been clear about the work that is going to be undertaken to review the waste and the rorts that have been occurring over the last nine years and that are evident in the March budget. We will trawl through that to find those rorts, to find that waste and to get rid of them. We will deliver on savings and we will then invest in the productive side of the economy. We will actually look to build things for the future, to build a pathway for the future in our manufacturing and in other industries that we know are critical to the future of Australia, rather than what we have seen from the current opposition when they were in government, where they borrowed more, oversaw a significant decline in productivity, spent more and taxed more. We've seen this over the last almost decade. But our plan to invest in the productive side of the economy will show that hope and will show that future pathway.

We will address the skills and training shortages, and that is going to start right now. Those conversations are on foot right now. The jobs and skills summit on 1 and 2 September will see that open, transparent and clear conversation, consulting with the critical people for whom this impacts and for whom we will take it forward. That includes the community. That includes business. That includes the unions. That includes the skills and training providers. These are the people who will make a difference as we build a productive future for Australia. We have procurement and co-investment strategies that will help business invest in those industries of the future that will build a better future for everyone in Australia.

We have a clear plan for cheaper, better energy. Yes, we will indeed look at the transmission lines. And, no, it is not a waste. These are the things that are going to ensure that we have an efficient and effective energy system into the future. We will look at developing further renewable energy because that is the way of the future and it is cheaper. We just need to stop having these attacks on areas where we know that renewables are cheaper. We know that for a fact. We know that there is a pathway to get them fully implemented into the system.

If you were to go down the path of nuclear energy, what would you do for the next umpteen years while you tried to develop that system? We don't need those things. We need to look at what we have on hand right now, and that is renewable energy as the cheapest, best way forward for the country. We have a plan to pursue that.

In addition, we care deeply about the people of this country. We care deeply about the economic future of this country, and the budget that will be delivered in October will chart that pathway. We are in a really, really difficult situation created by the opposition, the previous government, over nine long, wasteful, rorting years.