Richard Di Natale (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is for the Minister for Education and Training representing the Minister for Environment and Energy, Senator Birmingham. John Howard used to say that politics is governed by the iron law of arithmetic. Well, Minister, climate science is no different. By extending the life of coal-fired power plants, there's no way that Australia can meet pollution targets that we agreed to in Paris. Minister, when will the government formally notify the signatories to the Paris agreement that it has no desire to honour its side of the agreement to keep global warming at a level where we have at least a fighting chance of saving the Great Barrier Reef?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It seems like an eerily familiar story: every time Australia has set climate reduction targets, the Australian Greens have predicted that we would not meet those targets. And every time the deadline for the emissions reduction targets comes around, lo and behold: not only has Australia met those targets but has exceeded those targets. We are absolutely confident as a government that once again the Commonwealth government—Australia—will meet and honour its commitments and may well exceed those commitments again. Australia has made very strong commitments in relation to emissions reduction targets—to reduce emissions by between 26 and 28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. That is the equivalent of a 52 per cent reduction in Australia's per capita emissions—among the highest of any G20 country. Yet the Greens and the Labor Party say that's insufficient, and the Labor Party promised they would commit to something even more, but without a skerrick of detail as to how they would see that achieved or what the impact would be.

Australia is a country that makes international commitments, honours its commitments and delivers on those commitments. That is precisely what we have done in relation to every emissions reduction target to date. Indeed, in relation to our 2020 target—to get five per cent below 2000 levels—we see that we are well and truly on track and indeed likely to exceed that, just as we beat our first Kyoto target, by some 128 million tonnes. So, regarding this trajectory, this pattern of behaviour by the Greens, whereby they say targets are insufficient—but then they also say the targets won't be met—the truth is that the government, the country, does meet its targets, and we will do so again.

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

Senator Di Natale, a supplementary question?

Richard Di Natale (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, we've seen unprecedented weather-related disasters around the world. We've got wind speeds from hurricanes in the Atlantic that are off the charts. We've got fires two weeks out from winter across New South Wales—record-breaking temperatures. Given that your only energy plan is to keep open the oldest, dirtiest coal-fired power plant in the country, has your government raised the white flag when it comes to tackling climate change?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We continue to honour our policies, our commitments, in relation to emissions and in relation to energy affordability, security and reliability. We also listen to climate science and evidence—but we listen to it all. We don't cherrypick like those in the Greens do. We don't decide that every extreme weather event is attributable to changes in the climate. We know that credible scientists point out that this is a time of year when major storms occur, that it is not surprising to see multiple events occur at once. Dr Phil Klotzbach, the atmospheric scientist from Colorado State University, and Dr Jeff Weber, meteorologist at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research, have highlighted, in relation to events in the United States, that patterns such as this have been seen before. But we accept that climate indicates that there are changes and eventualities that we need to deal with. That is why as a government we have invested not only in policies to address emissions but also in adaption policies to ensure that Australia deals with those changes. (Time expired)

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

Senator Di Natale, a final supplementary question?

Richard Di Natale (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, you say that you listen to experts. But the experts and the business community are all saying that the only credible energy plan is one that replaces dirty, polluting coal-fired power with more solar, with more wind, with battery technology and energy efficiency. They say it's a plan that brings down pollution, brings down prices, is good for jobs, is good for the economy and is good for people. Minister, when will your government adopt a plan that is backed by experts and not the coal— (Time expired)

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our government will make sure that Australia meets its emissions reduction targets. We'll do that whilst ensuring that we keep energy affordable and reliable in Australia as well. We're not going to be driven by the ideology of the Greens. We're not going to be backed into some viewpoint that you must shut down coal plants to meet those targets. We will make sure that the targets are met in a way that guarantees the affordability and reliability of energy around Australia. That means listening to the energy experts, as well as the ideologues that the Greens like to cite or point to. That means ensuring that the policies we apply are actually balanced to meet the emissions reduction targets, but also to ensure we don't cripple the economy at the same time. Of course, we must ensure that our economy continues to have reliable baseload dispatchable energy. As I said the other day, if the Greens had their way, we wouldn't have any reliability in our energy grid left. The problems that SA are seeing would have been multiplied right across the country. We will not allow that to occur. (Time expired)