Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Again, the position being put forward by this historic bill from this government is that what we will do, for the first time, is lock in an interim emissions target of 43 per cent by 2030. It's a real target, it doesn't rely on technology that has yet to be invented, and is of course a pathway to net zero by 2050.

I might say to Senator McDonald and other members of the opposition that these are targets that are already committed to by pretty much every resources company in the country. Every resources company in the country that you care to think about has committed to net zero by 2050. They are all already making changes to reduce their emissions and, frankly, what this government is doing is just trying to catch up with where industry is, on the way to then leading. It's something that, unfortunately, the former government didn't do. We saw industry get well ahead of the former government's policy, and all that did was deprive regional Australians of jobs. (Time expired)