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

Thanks, Senator Pocock, and thank you for your constructive engagement on this bill more generally. As I was saying in my speech—I'm not sure if you were here for that part of it—of course our government is taking serious action on climate change and the root causes of it, being carbon emissions. I think you supported the legislation that we put through the parliament around increasing Australia's emission reduction targets. That's what we really need to do, to bring down those emissions, and we're taking action on a global stage by being an active participant in negotiations around these issues internationally.

When it comes to these investments, the finance minister is intending to work with the Future Fund and the Department of Finance to explore what options there are for investments, with the Future Fund, that better align with the government's commitment to net zero by 2050. I'm not in a position—that's not my role, finance minister—to give you a lot more detail at this point about exactly where that's heading, but that certainly signals to me an intention from the government to consider these issues.