James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

The opposition will not be supporting this amendment. This is typical of the Australian Greens. In a budget delivered by Labor that shows that gas prices and energy prices will rise, the Greens want to reduce the supply of gas. The Greens talked about doing the right things by Australians. Well, the right thing to do to stand by Australians is to make sure they have affordable electricity in 2023 going onwards. Stopping the development of gas supply in this country will mean that electricity and power prices will go up. The Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct is a resource-rich area that can deliver additional energy and minerals through a new gas reserve as well as critical mineral reserves, including copper and lithium, which are necessary to build the batteries that will assist in the supply of renewable energy. It will also have optimal carbon dioxide emissions opportunities. That is what the project is about. This is a project that was pushed by the former coalition government. It is an idea that was pushed by the ministers and by the CLP in the Northern Territory. It is something that will benefit all of Australia.

So, it is disappointing that the Greens are so detached from reality that they're attempting to torpedo a project that presents an opportunity to create jobs and will assist in securing Australia's energy supply into the future. We will not be supporting this amendment.