Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment, Senator Cormann. The head of the UN climate convention, Christiana Figueres, has warned this morning that coal has no future in the world's energy mix and that coal reserves should be left in the ground to avoid catastrophic climate change. If the Galilee Basin in Queensland were a country, burning its coal would make it the seventh largest emitter of CO2 on the planet. Will the government now agree that it should not be such a shameless cheerleader for the mega coal mines proposed for the Bowen and Galilee basins?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Waters for that question. I understand she feels strongly about this particular issue but, as I have said on so many occasions, I suspect that we have to agree to disagree because I happen to think that coal does have a very strong future. I happen to believe that coal will continue to be an important part of our energy mix in future. I happen to believe that coal will continue to provide an opportunity for Australia and people across the world to generate economic growth and to, of course, be part of lifting communities across the world out of poverty and to higher living standards.

I see Senator Waters shaking her head but I do remember that I have shared this with the chamber before. I have come across—courtesy of the Leader of the Government in the Senate—an article in the Hobart Mercury. Here it is. The headline is 'Coal fired power best option'. Guess who said that? His name at the time was Dr Bob Browne. Dr Bob Browne was chaining himself to trees, trying to stop the development of the Franklin Dam in Tasmania. Here he was saying to us, 'Give us more coal. Please give us more coal. Don't give us this dam. Give us coal.' I agreed with Dr Bob Browne before he became Senator Bob Browne. I agree that coal of course has to be an important part of our energy mix in the future. Anybody who thinks that it will not be so—I cannot find the words in my limited English linguistic capacity for how to best describe that. Senator Waters, you go to your voters and tell them you want to eliminate coal. We will go to the people of Australia and say that we believe coal is an important part of our economy for the future. Let us see what the Australian people decide. (Time expired)

Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. The carbon tracker report presented to the UN climate summit today—which the Prime Minister is not attending—finds that peak thermal goal demand in China could come as soon as 2016. The report showed that the Galilee Basin megamines, railways and coal ports are economically unviable under a low demand coal scenario. Why is the government allowing Australia to be saddled with what will become huge stranded assets?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Let me say that I do not appreciate the flippant remark which Senator Waters made about the Prime Minister not attending. The Australian government is represented appropriately by Foreign Minister Bishop. It might have escaped the notice of Senator Waters, but the Prime Minister is dealing with some very serious matters in the national interest. The Prime Minister will be travelling to New York later tonight in relation to some very serious matters in the national interest. For Senator Waters to come in here and flippantly suggest that the government is not giving appropriate focus to this particular issue because the Prime Minister is not in attendance during a sitting week is, quite frankly, quite inappropriate.

Having said all of this, of course the Australian government is involved in all of these international processes, as is appropriate, but it is focused on Australia's national interest. Our national interest is to continue to grow the economy in a way that is environmentally sustainable and that is what this government is continuing to do.

Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. With these clear signs that the world is moving to a clean energy future, the government's energy green paper that was released today is backing up its buddies in the coal and gas industry and ignoring the hundreds of thousands of people around the world who marched on the weekend for a safe climate—and it is ignoring 97 per cent of climate scientists and the UN. My question is: are you even paying attention?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I say to Senator Waters: this is not student politics. We are actually dealing with some serious issues here. This is not about supporting buddies; this is about making sure that we have got a solid foundation to build a stronger, more prosperous economy. Of course, part of building a stronger, more prosperous economy is ensuring that we have a reliable, sustainable supply of internationally competitive energy sources. As I said in my answer to the primary question, coal, gas and other energy sources will be important parts of that.

Given that we had Dr Brown advocating for coal-fired power as the best option, I suspect that at some point we are going to see Greens Senator Ludlam from Western Australia come in here and advocate for nuclear energy. I suspect that one day Senator Ludlam will come in and advocate for nuclear energy as the clean energy solution for the world. The Greens have been on a road to Damascus with these things— (Time expired)