Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wanted to take the opportunity before we wrap up tonight to join Senator Brockman in expressing my concern on behalf of the opposition about the bushfire situation that we face in Western Australia at the moment. As Senator Brockman has outlined, it appears at this stage that at least 56 homes have been destroyed. I think that everyone across Australia has breathed a sigh of relief throughout this summer that we haven't seen the bushfire damage that we saw last Christmas, so it is obviously extremely concerning to see homes being destroyed at this point in time. I encourage everyone in Western Australia who may be in the line of these fires to listen very carefully to emergency broadcasts and follow the emergency warnings that are being issued. Again I join with Senator Brockman in thanking the firefighters and community members who are putting their lives on the line to keep their communities safe right now.

This is another reminder that disaster season is far from over. We have known for months now that with the La Nina conditions we face this summer we face a higher than average risk of floods and cyclones in our country's north, but also it has been flagged for some time that we potentially face an above-average risk of fires in certain parts of Western Australia and unfortunately it does seem that that is now coming to pass. So all of us wish our Western Australian friends the best in what must be a very worrying time.

While I am on my feet, I just briefly want to recognise the change in my responsibilities and thank the Labor leader for giving me the additional role of representing the Queensland resources industry and resources workers in this parliament. I think the fact that Mr Albanese has appointed me—or anyone, for that matter—to the role of shadow minister for Queensland resources demonstrates very clearly that he gets the importance of the resources industry to my home state of Queensland. Having been on the road with Albo in mining communities over the years, I know that he understands very clearly the jobs, the exports and the royalties that really matter to our state and which arise from the resources industry.

There can be no doubt that Labor support workers in the resources industry. We are the party who have always stood for and will continue to stand for secure jobs, secure pay and a secure future for workers in the resources industry. That's why we have been so vocal in recent years about the rampant casualisation and abuse of labour hire that we have unfortunately seen in the resources industry by some employers. It is something that is yet to be matched by the government, who like to talk a lot about how much they like mining workers but haven't actually done anything to fix the problems of casualisation and labour hire which have been identified over and over again by mining unions and by the federal opposition.

There is finally legislation now before the parliament from this government which is hopelessly deficient in terms of addressing the casualisation issues, and we hope that at some point the government backs up its rhetoric about casualisation with serious action. We on this side of the chamber know that we will continue exporting our coal, gas and other resources for years to come, and we will support the workers in those industries over that time.

However, we also support strong action on climate change, and that's where there is a significant difference between the government and the opposition. Unlike the government, Labor has committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, and I would note that a number of the largest resources companies in this country have committed to reaching net zero by 2050. BP, BHP, Rio Tinto, Santos and many others have themselves committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050. You would think that if some of the biggest resources companies in this country can reach net zero emissions the government of Australia would actually be able to match it as well. But, as we all know, the Queensland Liberal National Party, including Senator Stoker, are completely in climate change denial and refuse to back the resources industry in their own commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Unlike the government, we support action on climate change, because, of course, it reduces emissions and it is good for our climate, but it is also good for jobs. Unfortunately this government's refusal to deal with the reality of climate change and take serious action is actually holding back jobs in my home state of Queensland.

Labor, unlike the Greens and the LNP, believes that our resources industry has a strong future and also that we should be creating and capturing the job opportunities that await in renewables and in manufacturing powered by clean renewable energy. I do not understand for the life of me why the LNP, in particular, because of their own internal divisions, want to stop Central Queenslanders and other regional Queenslanders from grabbing the jobs that are available in renewable industries and in manufacturing powered by cheap, clean energy. Of course we should support the existing industries, including our existing resources industries, but why would you want to stop new jobs from being created in regional Queensland as well, in the way that the LNP seems to want to do?

On the one hand, in the political climate we have at the moment, we have the Greens, who say that we can't have the existing jobs, that we have to get rid of the existing jobs in our existing resources industries and that we should only be about the new jobs in renewables. On the other hand, we've got the LNP, who don't want to know anything about the new jobs and are actively trying to stop them from going ahead, while saying that they want to support existing industries only. Labor believes that there's actually a future for both. There is a secure future for our resources industry workers, and we're right behind them in doing that, but we should be grabbing the new jobs that are available in new industries as well. That's what sets Labor apart. It's about time both the Greens and the LNP woke up to themselves and made sure that we are about more jobs in more industries, not about abandoning jobs in old and new industries.

Senate adjourned at 22 : 11