David Van (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last week I had the privilege of attending COP 27 in Egypt as part of a delegation of coalition members of parliament, thanks to the Coalition for Conservation. In what was an incredibly enriching experience, I was able to learn a great deal from legislators from all over the world and from both sides of the aisle, but particularly from those from the US Congress and the UK parliament. Two of the key messages that were continually repeated were on the importance of not putting all our eggs in one basket and on how the transition to a net zero future will not be easy. This means we must have a diversified source of options to allow this transition to occur.

That is why it was a shame that, despite the coalition being so well represented at the conference, the government seemed to be missing in action. Yes, the minister showed up for a couple of days—the last couple of days—and that was quite embarrassing. My key takeaway from Egypt is that the transition ahead of us will be long, hard and expensive and there will not be any one solution that works for every country. It is also that, while they are an important part of the solution, renewables are not the whole solution. Why? Because you can't have renewables without some form of firming technology.

It was interesting to stand no more than a few feet from the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, who was emphasising how important small modular nuclear reactors will be, and to hear the Icelandic government talk how important carbon capture and storage will be. This government needs to wake up to the fact that this transition will have to occur, and this means us investing in options for diversified sources of energy right now.