Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the report of the Select Committee into Jobs for the Future in Regional Areas together with the Hansard record of proceedings and documents presented to the committee, and I seek leave to have the report incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The report read as follows—

The report was unavailable at the time of publishing.

Susan McDonald (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

First, I have to point out the farcical situation we are faced with, where the chair of the committee has offered no recommendations. In fact, the only thing the alliance of Greens and Labor committee members did recommend was to remove the executive summary and the committee views in chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5. Using Senate processes to push a politically charged anti-mining, anti-farming, anti-regions agenda has spectacularly backfired. Now Labor and the Greens are trying to pretend that it never happened. After six months of hosting hearings in places like Newcastle, Western Australia, Whyalla and Townsville and spending many hours and many thousands of taxpayers' dollars, we're told 'there is nothing to see here'. That was because it was made clear during the hearings that any government attempt to shut down mining and resource extraction would have disastrous consequences for regional and rural towns.

My colleague Paul Scarr and I were part of this committee. We saw straight away that the inquiry was a cheap attempt to attack the mining and resources industries and, sadly, the thousands of families who rely on the sector to survive. We have lodged a dissenting report on this inquiry after the Labor and Greens majority of committee members could not reach agreement on what recommendations to make. The evidence supplied to the inquiry showed regional Australia relies heavily on a strong resources sector that will provide jobs for many years to come. The last federal election delivered an overwhelming rejection of Labor's economy-wrecking renewable energy agenda and gave a big tick to the coalition's plan for strong, well-managed and sustainable resources and agricultural sectors.

Regional Australia has had a long history of innovating in these traditional industries that keep communities viable, and this should be encouraged to flourish. The Greens and Labor despise the regions and, even after being called out on it during the election, they are still wagging a disapproving finger at the hardworking men and women in the regions whose futures and those of their children rely on the government support of these industries. They continue to attack a sector that provides some of the world's cleanest coal and employs 220,000 people, supplying Australia and the world with reliable, affordable energy and minerals. This inquiry tried to pre-empt Australia rushing away from coal and gas to the mass adoption of renewable energy. Australia has world-leading deposits of rare earth and critical minerals representing a substantial commercial opportunity. The Morrison government will secure the future of this mineral extraction with a dedicated office within the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science.

World Energy Outlook 2019, released by the International Energy Agency in Paris, reports that global energy demand increased by 2.3 per cent in 2018, with consumption of coal-fired power up on the previous year. Our Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, Matt Canavan, said the report showed coal will have to be a major contributor to the energy mix for the foreseeable future and it remains the largest and cheapest source of electricity generated in Asia. By 2040, Australian net coal exports are forecast to grow by 18 per cent and liquid natural gas production could double. Yet we have Labor and the Greens continuing to peddle climate change hysteria, demanding Australia turn its back on mining and miners. This is despite the Australian Energy Market Operator suggesting that from 2022 soaring levels of intermittent renewable energy could cause rolling blackouts.

It is clear that the coalition's approach to a gradual rollout of renewable energy in conjunction with reliable dispatchable and consistent coal- and gas-fired energy is best for the Australian people and industry. And it is also clear that to follow the plan of Labor and the Greens to torpedo our more than $100 billion coal, gas and oil industries is a fast-track to disaster, especially for our regions. What I find utterly deplorable is that federal Labor wants to dictate to people how they should earn a living away from mining while their Queensland Labor counterparts are shutting down non-mining industries. In Queensland, Labor has grossly mismanaged forestry, fishing, farming and education, thereby denying jobs to people in the regions. They've closed agricultural colleges that gave people the skills to obtain good jobs on the land, and they don't supply enough STEM teachers to western and northern Queensland, which further disadvantages our children in the regions in gaining the education they need to get the jobs of the future. It is Queensland Labor that tells regional people working in the resources sector that they should reskill. How unbelievably senseless to then make it virtually impossible for them to find different work.

This is yet more evidence that Labor despises regional Queensland and doesn't deserve to lead our great state. They are not interested in the innovation, the modern practices and the bright future that we have in regional Queensland with the advent of digital connectivity and modern technology which were not referred to in this report.

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the comments made by my good friend Senator Susan McDonald in defending the regions of Queensland. This was, I must say, the first Senate select committee I had the privilege to serve on. I hope things go uphill from this point on. Under the chairmanship of Senator Richard Di Natale, we are left with a report that has absolutely no recommendations whatsoever. Why? Because the position of the Greens in relation to a range of matters was too extreme for even the Australian Labor Party to support. Senator Susan McDonald and I came to the view that the report which has been tabled did not adequately reflect the evidence which was presented to the Senate select committee—in particular, the importance of the mining industry, the agricultural industry and the tourism industry to the state of Queensland. This is fundamental for us. It is one of the fundamental reasons why I put my hand up to this serve in this parliament. We will fight every day we're in this place for Queensland's regions.

The first issue with the report, of course, is how to define 'transition'. We're from Queensland, so whenever the Greens and the Labor Party talk about transition, we know that mining jobs in Queensland are under threat. Whenever they use the word 'transition', jobs in Queensland are under threat. The Rockhampton Regional Council, in their submission, stated:

Talk of "just transitions" away from existing out-of-favour industries is interpreted by many as code for "we no longer need regional Australia" and its productive primary industries including resources and agriculture.

That is absolutely correct. Senator Susan McDonald and I absolutely agree with those sentiments conveyed by the Rockhampton Regional Council. We heard evidence from a number of stakeholders with respect to the impact of local communities when coal-fired power stations are closed and when other industries such as the car industry are closed and jobs are lost. The evidence is absolutely compelling. The evidence indicates that only a third of those workers are successful in entering into full-time employment after the closures of their employers, a third move on to part-time and casual work, and a third are left bereft, without any job at all. A third, a third, a third. We don't want this to occur to our regional centres in Queensland, and that is why Senator Susan McDonald and I are so passionate about defending our regions in this place.

You will see in the commentary in relation to this matter that there could be references to what's referred to as the German coal transition. This is a process whereby there has apparently been a transition of around 130,000 workers previously employed in the German coal industry to new jobs. Apparently no worker has been made redundant, and this is held up as the role model for Queensland to follow. People will be able to see this referred to in the majority report. However, Senator Susan McDonald and I say that we are strongly of the view that great care needs to be taken prior to drawing any lessons from the so-called German coal transition and seeking to apply those lessons to regional Australia. In the view of Senator Susan McDonald and I, the notion that an equivalent of the German coal transition could be replicated in Australia is misguided and dangerous. The fact of the matter is, as my friend Senator Susan McDonald has stated, the coalmining and oil and gas industries are absolutely fundamental to our home state of Queensland and to the future prosperity of our nation. They provide well-paying jobs to Queenslanders and they support an array of Queensland communities, so it's extremely disappointing that the Greens and the Labor Party supported this report which is tabled in the Senate today.

As Senator Susan McDonald has alluded to, the International Energy Agency's World energy outlook 2019 states that coal will remain the single largest source of electricity generation in 2040, supplying 25 per cent of generation globally. The committee heard evidence from the Port of Newcastle, the largest coal export terminal in the world. They said:

From a business point of view, our assessment is the next 15 years won't see any significant change. There's a slight uptick if places like Vietnam et cetera keep coming online as strongly as they are. For certainly the next 15 year we expect to see volumes sitting around 160 million and a little bit above.

That's evidence from the Port of Newcastle, the largest export coal port in the world.

The committee also heard about some of the issues with solar and wind power. Perhaps the most telling testimony was heard in Whyalla, home to one of the two remaining steelworks in this country. We heard from the current owners of the Whyalla Steelworks that their proposal to introduce an electric arc furnace will actually cost an extra $129 million because of the reliance in South Australia of the electricity grid on solar and wind—an extra $129 million. We should be trying to increase manufacturing in this country. We should be trying to add value to our resources, rather than putting obstacles in place for those seeking to create jobs and wealth in this country.

We also heard in Whyalla evidence with respect to the Aurora solar energy project. This was interesting, because a number of submitters referred to this project as a beacon for the future of the solar power industry. Some quick research, however, indicated that the project has fallen over. They couldn't get finance. Why is that? Because they've got a project called the Crescent Dunes plant in Nevada, and that has suffered a number of significant technical outages. As a result, it has a variable production history. But you never hear any reservations from the Greens or the Australian Labor Party with respect to solar and wind. You never hear those reservations. The fact of the matter is this country needs stable, secure, base-load energy, and Senator Susan McDonald and I will fight for that every day we serve in this Senate.

There was also talk of implementation of what is quaintly referred to as a national transition authority. As I said earlier, whenever the Labor Party and the Greens talk about transition, in Queensland we know that that means mining and agricultural jobs are in jeopardy. So what is this regional transition authority meant to do? It is meant to facilitate and steer the regions in the right direction with policy signals. Steer them!

Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Put people out of a job!

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's right. I'll take that interjection from Senator Matt Canavan: put people out of jobs. That's what it's about: putting people out of jobs. This was the failed policy which the Labor Party took to the last federal election. Regional Queenslanders spoke loudly in response. They do not want it. We heard from Mayor Greg Williamson of Mackay Regional Council in respect to this notion of creating a new bureaucracy in Canberra to steer the regions with respect to their future development. Mayor Greg Williamson said:

I think you would get a very, very dull reception for the establishment of another authority to lead a transition, when we don't really know where the transition is.

That's a lot of common sense from Mayor Greg Williamson of the Mackay Regional Council.

In summary, Senator Susan McDonald and I believe that the Australian federal government should seek to develop new areas of economic activity without jeopardising existing industries which are so important to regional Australia. A positive example of this is the government's National Hydrogen Strategy. That's positive. It's looking to add an additional industry to our country, not jeopardise existing industries. I would like to finalise my statement by saying that we were inspired by the actions being taken by local regions and communities to pursue opportunities. Much of the work being undertaken by the federal government supports these actions. However, the driving force comes from within the communities themselves, from the aspiration, passion and resilience of the people of our regions who are working together to build better places for their families and communities. The government senators applaud them.

Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll be very brief, but I can't let those last two contributions go without challenging them. Fair dinkum, it's like a couple of old dinosaurs howling at the moon on their way to extinction. That's what we've just listened to: people with their heads in the sand failing to stand up for regional Australia. Regional Australians are some of the people most impacted by climate change. Regional Australians are watching their landscapes burn. Regional Australians are watching their rivers dry up. Regional Australians are losing their homes and, in some cases, their lives because of the fires that we have seen that have a direct link to climate change. Get your heads out of the sand. Get with the science, get with the program and start understanding that, unless we take radical action to reduce emissions, regional Australia will pay an extremely high price. I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted.