Susan McDonald (Queensland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Resources) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to oppose the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Fight for Australia's Coastline) Bill 2022. I'm fascinated. I have just been listening to the contribution from Senator Ayres, which was all over the shop. I was hoping for a cohesive, logical debate about not supporting the bill, but instead he actually ended up supporting the bill by his comments. That's not very useful to me at all, but I guess you can expect nothing less of a very politicised government.

My concern is that this legislation and the Greens party are hell-bent on destroying the resources sector, the same sector that has paid $37 billion in salaries to Australians in the last financial year, in 2022. The same sector that pays $43 billion in royalties and taxes that pay for schools and roads and hospitals right across this nation. The same sector that makes up 11 per cent of Australia's GDP.

Australia has a robust approvals process. We have some of the highest environmental standards in the world for our mining and resources industry, and the state and federal laws have been designed to ensure that due process is followed; that we have a logical and coherent set of steps that allow for approval applications, approvals, appeal processes. I would say it's almost too lengthy because we also have some of the longest approval processes in the world. But it does provide an equal and level playing field for all projects. The important thing to note is that if we start legislating for specific projects we undermine that level playing field.

Senator Ayres made a comment around Australia's reputational risk. He was talking about a different topic, but I'm raising the reputational risk for investment in this country that comes from this kind of legislation. What we are saying to investors—and it doesn't matter if they're investing in coal or gas or critical minerals or renewable projects or agricultural projects—what we are saying to the rest of the world is that we would be a country that could not be relied on under its approvals process, that we are too risky for investment dollars. We rely on investment dollars. So this legislation is risking the very foundation that Australia is built on of taking capital, whether it be domestic or international, whether it be from institutions or mum-and-dad investors, that we are becoming unreliable as an investment destination.

On principle, we do not support using a blunt tool of legislative intervention to block a specific project. If this bill is allowed to proceed, it does set a dangerous precedent for parliamentary intervention on any project because we know, because the Greens have told us, that this will not be the last project.

If this bill proceeds, it is guaranteed that the Greens will come back to introduce bills to block other resource projects and development, and then the next and then the next. I'm sure it's an unintended consequence from the Greens, but—a very predictable response to this sort of legislation—the Greens are advocating for higher energy prices and higher cost of living, forcing manufacturing and well-paid jobs offshore and eventually energy shortages and blackouts across the nation. We have to be clear: this is the inevitable result of this piece of legislation blocking this project and then every other project that comes behind it. It is dangerous for Australia's way of life. It is dangerous for the income streams that we have come to know and rely on, because it is those royalties and taxes of a very highly regulated sector that allows us to have a high standard of health care, a high standard of education and many other government projects right across the country.

Proper process from government is what I'm advocating for. Project approvals must have a clear and transparent approval process, and, of course, we remain committed to an increased supply of gas, particularly as we are now in a current gas shortage crisis. The introduction of the price restrictions last year has already resulted in projects, whether they be import terminals or gas projects, not proceeding and investment uncertainty, and that is leading to gas shortages. The ACCC's most recent report has again indicated that, and respected commentators are making it very clear that we can expect gas shortages, energy shortages, later this year. This is incredibly serious.

Gas continues to remain a vital heating, energy and manufacturing resource for this country. These risks of gas shortages and blackouts increase across the east coast because of Labor's bad policies and rushed legislation. It is vital that we continue to develop supply to ensure that Australians can turn on the lights, power up the stove, heat their homes in winter. So further exploration is necessary to ensure long-term gas supply. However, the gas crisis is already on our doorstep and countless projects are now being torpedoed by Labor's destructive intervention and the government must do what they can to bring them back online.

We can see that the government has no interest in properly managing the gas and cost-of-living crisis facing Australians, and, through their policy decisions, we have seen approved and viable gas projects shelved or under review, further fuelling both the short-term and medium-term crisis. I'll name just a few. Senex's Atlas expansion in western Queensland is a proven gas field. It was forecast to supply 60 petajoules of gas to the domestic market, and it's on hold. An LNG terminal proposed for Port Kembla in New South Wales has also been put on hold. The Santos Narrabri project, which could supply half of New South Wales total gas supply, is also facing further challenges and delay. The Viva import terminal is at risk. The EPIK Newcastle import terminal has been shelved—a terminal capable of supplying 80 per cent of New South Wales gas demand.

I'm sure the Greens would love to introduce legislation to block all of these projects too. But these projects were critical to Australia's future gas security, particularly as the ACCC continues to forecast gas shortages across the east coast in 2023 and in future years. But the government's inability to work with industry to secure solutions is becoming more and more apparent. Rather than working to develop solutions that will benefit Australians, Labor and the Greens are content with ramming through destructive legislation, stifling debate, blaming others, but, most seriously, removing Australia's standing as an attractive investment house for important resources projects, which we have relied upon for generations to allow Australia to be the First World country that we are.

The transition that the government keeps talking about and that the Greens keep talking about is going to be some time in the future, and it is going to be without a bridge. We have no bridge to move from the current position to what the government has legislated for in 2030. What we have is a government that's ensuring that we're going to have shortages of gas, higher energy prices and power blackouts, and we know who we can thank for that. We can thank the Albanese Labor government—its sneaky deals, its rushed legislation and its lack of concern for planning for the future for Australians, Australians' jobs and Australians' way of life.