Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, my question this afternoon is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Brandis. In the first year of the Liberal government, renewable energy investment fell in this country by almost 90 per cent. Can the minister please confirm that under the Abbott-Turnbull government, one in three renewable energy jobs have been lost?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, Senator Pratt, I cannot confirm that. But I will tell you what I can confirm, and that is: this government is about to make some very important decisions on the national energy market. The result of those decisions will be to ensure that Australians have affordable energy, unlike the doubling of electricity prices that occurred during the period of the Labor government; that they have reliable supply, unlike the experience of South Australians in particular, whose entire state was blacked out by a policy adopted by the Weatherill Labor government that was driven all by ideology.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Pause the clock. I will take the leader, Senator Pratt. Senator Farrell.

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a point of order: will the leader please stop picking on South Australia? It was a storm that caused the blackout—please.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! That is not a point of order, Senator Farrell. Senator Pratt, do you also wish to raise a point of order?

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question was about jobs, and Senator Brandis has not referenced them at all as yet.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Pratt, your question directly was: can the minister confirm? The minister said he could not confirm and the minister is now enhancing his answer, which ministers do.

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much indeed, Mr President. Where was I? In the state of South Australia, which I love, Senator Farrell—I love the state of South Australia and I am very fond of individual South Australians, including you, Senator Farrell. We are not picking on South Australia; we are coming to the rescue of the people of South Australia by protecting them from a state Labor government which has been a case study of how not to do policy in this area—because, if you build your energy policy, if you decide your energy policy, on the basis of your ideological obsessions and your fear of our Green friends over there in the corner, then you—

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Point of order, Senator Farrell.

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a point of order, the leader is misleading this house.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is not a point of order.

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was the sale of ETSA that caused the current set of problems.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Farrell, there is no point of order. I remind senators that points of order must relate to the standing orders and cannot be used as debating points or points to score. Attorney-General, you have the call.

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr President. So when you let ideology drive your policy and when you let your fear of the Greens drive your policy, as you people in the Labor Party do, that is what happens. But we will not be doing that. The decisions that we will be making shortly, informed by the Finkel report and informed by the very good discussion we had the other day in our party room, will ensure affordable electricity, reliable supply and our commitment to international— (Time expired)

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Pratt, a supplementary question.

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Members of the government are reported to be unhappy that the Finkel report projects 42 per cent renewable energy generation under a clean energy target by 2030. Does the government support a 42 per cent renewable energy target by 2030?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Pratt, you should not believe everything you read in the newspapers, because, if you start believing everything you read in the newspapers, you will end up asking silly questions like that. What the government will be doing, Senator Pratt—as I have said before, but perhaps you might care to listen—is we will be making some decisions in the near future in relation to energy supply in this country, an area of policy which has bedevilled, I think it is fair to say, both sides of politics for many years now. We will be making a series of decisions, informed by science, informed by engineering, informed by economics but not informed by ideology. The result of those decisions will be to ensure that Australia resolves the trilemma of affordable electricity and reliable supply while at the same time remaining faithful to our international commitments to reduce emissions. That it what we will be doing. It is something you singularly failed to do when you were in government.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Pratt, a final supplementary question.

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Given that we have yet again seen that the coalition is more interested in its internal party room brawls than driving policy in the national interest, how can Australians have confidence that the Prime Minister will not just again roll over to the hard right of his party room?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Pratt, without accepting any of the more lurid premises of that question, I will tell you how the Australian people can have confidence that the Prime Minister and this government will make the right policy choices. We will make the right policy choices, because they will be informed by science. We will make the right policy choices, because they will be the informed by engineering. We will make the right policy choices, because we are led by a Prime Minister who understands this issue, working hand in hand with a minister with a deep understanding of this issue. We will not be driven by ideology; we will not be driven by our own political obsessions, as you are; we will not be driven by our fear of the Greens; we will be driven by the pragmatic choices needed to protect the interests of the Australian people in affordable electricity, reliable supply and lower emissions. That is what we will do, and that is how we will do it.