Andrew McLachlan (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A letter has been received from Senator Canavan:

Pursuant to standing order 75, I propose that the following matter of public importance be submitted to the Senate for discussion:

Labor's heavy-handed market interventions, destructive industrial relations changes and secretive environmental protection and biodiversity conservation reforms are creating massive uncertainty in energy markets that Australians will pay for through higher prices and loss of industrial jobs.

Is the proposal supported?

More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

With the concurrence of the Senate, the clerks will set the clock in line with the informal arrangements made by the whips.

Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Most Australians would be aware of the energy crisis afflicting this nation. They need only consult—and, ultimately, pay—their bills. I know that these days many people are, tragically, struggling to pay their bills. They understand that we're going through an absolute crisis in this country. Something is going massively wrong with our energy system when a country that is as blessed with natural energy resources as this one has among the highest energy prices in the world. This motion seeks to demonstrate to the Australian people that the reason for that is the heavy-handed red tape we've seen from this government that is stopping the extraction, the supply and the use of those abundant natural resources we have in this country, causing an increase in supply pressures, shortages and energy prices.

Over the term of just two years of this Labor government, we have seen unprecedented interventions and heavy-handed regulation of the gas sector. We've seen the rolling back of industrial relations to the 1970s, with the energy crises and strikes that we saw in those days, and we've seen a complete lack of transparency on changes to environmental laws and regulations which is freaking out investors who might otherwise be looking at Australia.

Last week we saw this highlighted, for all Australians, in two reports that came from government agencies. One of those reports was the gas supply outlook report produced by the Australian Energy Market Operator, and that report showed that, in the next few years, we could be facing the prospect of having to use diesel fuel in our nation's gas-powered electricity power stations. So we have all this gas—we've got enormous amounts of gas in this country. Gas is used for about 10 per cent of our power needs in Australia, and it's critical at peak times, critical when it's hot or when it's cold and energy use is at its highest. We need to have those gas-fired power stations to turn on and provide that additional bit of electricity. We're running out of so much gas in this country now that the prospect is we're going to have to chuck diesel fuel into these power stations to use. How is that good for the environment, if the diesel is effectively the most carbon intensive of all fuels? It's very, very expensive, so that will only put more upward pressure on prices.

This is happening because there has been a complete standstill on gas investment, as I mentioned. The government brought in these powers, unbelievable powers, that would allow a government minister to dictate to a gas company what they can charge, when they can produce, when they have to produce—the government can force them to drill and produce and sell at a price set by them. Obviously, anyone going into business or even thinking of starting a business probably wouldn't like the prospect of the government being able to tell you when you have to open your doors and how much you can sell your products for. That tends to chill investment. That tends to ward off people spending the hundreds of millions and sometimes billions of dollars necessary to extract those energy resources and make sure that we have enough gas to supply our power systems. So we have seen a freeze on gas investment across this landscape. There's a massive investment in western Queensland, in my state, proposed by Senex Energy. It could produce half of New South Wales's energy needs. It's completely held up at the moment. It was almost going to go ahead before these laws came in. Nothing has happened since on that project. This is why we're facing those gas shortages.

We're now seeing the government bringing in a whole new environmental regulation framework that they are designing in secrecy. They've made businesses and companies in this country sign non-disclosure agreements—I think they're the representative groups, I should say. They get taken into these back rooms and shown the laws that your taxpayer dollars have funded to write. We can't see them. The people can't see them. These large businesses and corporates and their representatives can see them, and they have to sign non-disclosure agreements. They can't take anything out; they can't take any photos, and we don't know what's in these, either.

Again, what's the message to any investors wanting to invest in Australian energy? They're not going to invest right now because they don't know what's going to end up in these laws. They don't know what's going to happen when the laws come into this sausage factory and the Greens get their claws into them. Again, it might completely stop and chill all types of investments. The simple fact is that, if we want lower electricity prices, if you want to pay less on your electricity bill, we have to use more of our natural resources and we need a government that is supportive of developing Australia's natural resources of coal, oil, gas and renewables of all types.

Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I look at this MPI and I see that 'destructive industrial relations changes' is one of the elements, and the loss of industrial jobs—it goes on to some other matters that Senator Canavan raised before. So I might just go to some of the points about these 'destructive industrial relations changes' because it always intrigues me. We've got one size fits all. Everywhere there's a change and a market regulation to give people more rights, to decrease fuel prices and to make the market more stable, whether it be in fuel and gas or in industrial relations, it's something that those opposite always seem to oppose.

I'm going to have a great deal of delight hearing some of the comments from the other senators as well, when we start looking at some of the views from people. I'll concentrate for a moment on Queensland. At a Rockhampton hearing on 31 October 2023, on closing loopholes, Mitch Hughes, the MEU acting district president, a miner of many years experience, said:

When I started in the industry at Saraji, the majority of workers were employed directly through BMA. Now I estimate that at least at Saraji, that number is somewhere around 40 per cent of those directly employed at the worksite. Those workers not directly employed are also on terms and conditions of employment that are significantly less than those who are directly employed.

I'm going to raise other views as well. Dwayne Arnold, a coalminer and labour hire worker who works at Anglo American's Grosvenor mine, said:

There's a big difference in pay rates between the permanent employees and labour hire workers like me. We get about $20 to $30 an hour less, even though we do the same work and labour hire workers are equally skilled and experienced.

I will go to a couple of other pieces of evidence that were given during that inquiry up there in Rockhampton. The people in the local community know what the effect of regulation is. It means that you can actually turn around and start getting paid fair compensation for the work that's performed. We know that those opposite, the Liberals and the Nationals, are always for low pay. That's in their DNA. They've got to be for low pay, otherwise it's not worth saying or not worth voting against. They want to make sure that people get paid as little as possible, particularly in an industry that's receiving such large profits.

The Mining and Energy Union say they've appropriately taken the first steps on 'same job same pay' laws in a bid to rectify claimed pay gaps of $20,000 a year for labour hire workers at a Queensland coalmine. They go on to talk about substantial wage differentials in the Callide case and the need for workers who are doing the exact same work to get paid the exact same rates.

You need to start looking at locals and what they say—local community activists and people who are elected by the community to represent the interests of the community. At the inquiry in October 2023 that I was talking about before, Anne Baker, the mayor of Isaac Regional Council, said:

I'm the mayor of Queensland's largest resource region. We are a host to 28 active coalmines. We've lived with the consequences of labour hire practices in particular for well over a decade. … Unfortunately, what we live in—our lived experience and what we see in our region—is that labour hire practices are driving down our liveability for our community and our broader region. This is just not a debate for the workers themselves, the industry and the unions. There is a direct impact to our community's sustainability when these decisions are taken around casualisation and labour hire.

When you start looking at all that, you then have to start looking at what's actually happened. Those opposite have been launching campaigns to talk about the big impact on the mining industry, but what they fail to do is talk about the fact that we have had a labour surge.

In the mining industry, a number of mines were sold by BHP. Brodie Allen, a coalmine worker at Blackwater mine, said that they've been able to turn around now and get paid the exact same rate that the direct hire workers get because they've been sold to another company which is smaller than BHP. They've got the increase, and BHP wouldn't have paid it. This is about highway robbery by these big miners, and those opposite are standing with them.

Penny Allman-Payne (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If we want to talk about what's causing uncertainty for energy workers, let's start with the coalition pretending for a decade that they could hide from the energy transition and that they could ignore the international science, the calls from within their own party and the calls from people on the street that an energy transition was coming. Instead, we had a decade of deceit and inaction, and the people paying for it are those energy workers. Like their fossil fuel donors, they have abandoned those communities. Instead, we have an ad hoc regime where, in some places, corporations are abruptly pulling out altogether, leaving a trail of devastation behind them.

The people of my hometown of Gladstone know all too well what happens when we let massive corporations drive decision-making. My community still bears the scars of multiple boom-and-bust cycles. That's the reality of burying your head in the sand to the reality of transition. It means not showing up for the community and leaving them to the whims of fossil fuel corporations. In Clermont, we saw the coalition just a few years ago fighting tooth and nail for Adani to set up shop under the promise of jobs for that community. But the reality is that those corporations do not care about those communities. In fact, right now we're watching Adani fight against having to employ a single local. This is the reality of how these polluting fossil fuel corporations operate.

It is well past due for the government and the coalition to fess up and be honest with those communities about their future and take proactive steps to help them in the energy transition to make sure that they are best placed to take up opportunities in renewable energy with high-paid and secure work. That's why I put a bill before this parliament for a National Energy Transition Authority that would make that a reality, because a national authority to lead the energy transition, driven by communities and workers, is critical as we see the writing on the wall with coal and gas.

Gerard Rennick (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to support Senator Canavan's motion, the matter of public importance that Labor’s heavy-handed market interventions, destructive industrial relations changes and secretive EPBC reforms are creating massive uncertainty in energy markets that Australians will pay for through higher prices and the loss of industrial jobs. Labor's environmental and energy policies are the fourth step of the four-step shuffle throughout their time in government, because this crisis has been decades in the making.

It started in the 1980s under the Hawke-Keating government with the Button plan. Former Labor senator John Button had this great idea that we would rationalise manufacturing, and by doing that he let manufacturing go offshore. Those jobs, of course, were replaced by the university sector that was heavily subsidised by the Australian taxpayer through the process known as HECS. Our young children were given loans like from a loan shark and they were promised that somehow if they went to university they'd come out and get a high-paying job at the end of it. The next step along the line was superannuation. Yes, it started out at 2 per cent in 1992 but it's gradually risen to 12 per cent.

The final step of course was this renewable energy target and the mandating of net zero, which is actually seeing our base-load energy—and I might add that when I finished school in the late 1980s, Queensland had the lowest energy prices in the world on the back of cheap, reliable coal powered energy as a result of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen building coal-fired power stations and plonking them down on coalmines that were owned by the Queensland people. The Queensland people didn't have to buy the coal on the market; all they had to do was dig it up and burn it. That coal was exported to the other states as well. That cheap and reliable energy helped power our manufacturing sector and helped power our mining sector as well. For two decades, coal was Australia's biggest export, and that is what powered this country.

What we are seeing now as a result of these green policies designed ostensibly to protect the environment is that they are actually just destroying the environment. I've spoken about that many times before. They're also going to destroy the economy. Why? Because renewables are much more expensive. They have a shorter operating life. You're lucky to get 20 years out of solar panels and wind turbines. In fact, many wind turbines are lucky to last a few years. They cost a fortune to build. Then you have to build a lot more transmission lines because, rather than having, say, 20 coal-fired power stations down the east coast, you've now got hundreds and hundreds of smaller energy generators. Then you've got to have batteries to back up all of this energy because, as we know, the sun doesn't shine 24 hours a day. Of course we don't even talk about the whole recycling process; that's another environmental disaster waiting to occur.

All of this costs money and all of this drives up the cost of electricity. Not only is there the cost of renewables but also there is the cost of the subsidies for renewables. In order to continue the illusion that Labor loves to push that renewables are cheaper—and they are not cheaper—they are regulated through the renewable energy target that mandates that 33 terawatts of renewable energy has to be sold throughout the year. Thirty-three terawatts is about 23 per cent of our energy network. The sun shines for only six or seven hours a day, on a good day, throughout winter. If you have a few overcast days, on average you'd be lucky to see the sun shining 25 per cent of the time throughout the year. That means that, when the sun does shine, you've got to sell all that solar power at that time. Because there's an oversupply for six hours of the day, that solar is sold at a loss, and then those costs have to be recouped through the coal-fired power stations at night. That is driving up the cost of energy. When you drive up the cost of energy, you drive up the cost of manufacturing. It makes manufacturing more expensive in this country, and it sends manufacturing jobs offshore. So I urge you to support this motion today.

Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do find this matter of public importance on energy quite surprising. When they put up a motion like this one, I do think it shows that there is a lack of self-reflection by those opposite. I wonder how much thought goes into it. I say that because, in terms of all these matters that they raise as being matters of public importance, they actually have a record in relation to these matters from when they were in government two years ago. Before they put forward such motions, do they not actually think about what their record was and the consequences for the Australian people? It is a record that deserves to be highlighted, and it is a record that I believe was a key determinant in why people rejected them at the last election and sent them into opposition.

Let's consider the elements of this matter of public importance and highlight the previous government's record in regard to this. Let's talk about industrial relations and the low wages that were a deliberate design feature of the economy. That's something which we highlighted in opposition and which we continue to talk about because, of course, they've done nothing to accept responsibility for the damage to the economy they caused and the pain they caused to working people in this country. When it comes to labour hire—and I've seen this in Queensland in particular, in the resources dependent communities—they let it run rampant. In terms of the consequences of labour hire, as well as the way labour hire drives down wages and conditions for other employees, there is also the impact it has on communities. It hurts people. It hurts their ability to get a loan for a car or a loan for a house. These are the consequences of labour hire, and that was the policy of those opposite that was allowed to run rampant across many parts of the economy, particularly in regional Queensland. In regard to industrial relations, they did nothing to support low-paid workers. They made no changes that were going to improve the ability of those workers to make ends meet and get ahead in life. So, when it comes to industrial relations, their record in government was appalling, and we've had to work to correct it.

In regard to energy, we regularly highlight the more than 20 energy policies that they had when they were in government. We know the chaos and uncertainty that that caused industry as a result, let alone the chaos and uncertainty caused by the demonising of renewables that continues to this day from those opposite. When you think about their record, what do they actually have to show for their years in government? What we do know is that they spent $3.3 million on a study to build a new coal-fired power station in Collinsville. Whatever happened to that $3.3 million and that study? Where have they gone? That is actually their record in government. So, when they come in with a motion like this, it is important to highlight their record. They've done nothing to own up to the mistakes they made in government and actually say, 'We got it wrong.'

There is a clear contrast with this government. What we are doing on wages is supporting low-paid workers. We've made changes to the system to enable them to bargain more effectively. We've supported increases in the minimum wage that are actually going to make a difference in helping people continue to keep their heads above water. In regard to labour hire, we've cracked down on the loopholes, ensuring that those people doing the same job are earning the same pay. That's a significant change for many people, particularly the ones I've seen in regional Queensland. As I mentioned, there were changes to the bargaining system to allow those people, particularly in the feminised industries, the opportunity to bargain more effectively and increase their pay. In energy, we have a clear ambition: emissions down, reliability up and relief for families on prices.

So when you look at this motion and the record of this government, as opposed to those opposite, it shows you that we are actually a complete contrast to them. On all these issues, which are significant issues, we're actually taking action. When you look at their record and how despicable it was and how sorry it was, they actually need to take ownership of that and say, 'We got it wrong.' When it comes to energy, again I'll use the example of the $3.3 million they gave to a study for a coal-fired power station in Collinsville. We never saw anything of that. The fact of the matter is that it was used to create a bit of a culture war. That's what it was used for in the election campaign. The $3.3 million disappeared up a drain somewhere. We haven't seen any evidence of it. But they've learned nothing from that, because that's what we are getting from those opposite around nuclear energy. They're not committed to it. They just want to use this as a scare campaign and as a culture war, because they don't want to actually embrace renewables. That's their record in government. That's their record in opposition. You can't believe a word they say when it comes to energy, whereas this is a government that is getting on with the job, building reliability and ensuring that we have a safe future.

Ralph Babet (Victoria, United Australia Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Obviously, I rise in support of Senator Canavan's urgency motion. Why wouldn't I? Of course, I do. The Labor Party's mad fixation on rewiring our nation and the energy grid will not change global temperatures—we all know that—but it is creating havoc across our nation.

It beggars belief, it really does, that Minister Bowen, who in my personal opinion has failed at every ministry portfolio that he has ever held, is now in charge of completely dismantling and deconstructing our reliable baseload energy infrastructure and replacing it with less reliable, made-in-China garbage—let's be honest. Our cheap, abundant coal is shipped overseas for use in foreign power plants, while we cannot use it here at home and while our own coal-fired power plants are quite literally blown up. Our ample natural gas reserves are left in the ground, unfortunately, while business warns of an impending shortage. The one energy source that could reduce emissions while supplying the needs of householders and industry is just outright banned from even being considered. The government's nuclear power phobia is matched only by the government's wind and solar obsession. Meanwhile, the good people of this nation are paying through the nose for their electricity. But do you know what? Before Minister Bowen got his hands on our grid, we had some of the cheapest power in the world. That's what we had.

Prime Minister Albanese spent a year going around talking about his Voice to Parliament, but where is the voice for our farmers, our struggling families out there, our regional communities, our koalas and our whales, whose habitats are under threat from all this renewable energy garbage? That is what it is—garbage. The result of all of this is going to be quite predictable. It's going to be grim. It's going to be higher power prices and less reliable power. That's what's going to happen.

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Multicultural Engagement) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's always a privilege to follow my good friend Senator Babet. There was a lot of common sense in that contribution from Senator Babet. Thank you very much, Senator, for your contribution. I also rise to support Senator Canavan's motion in this respect. Senator Canavan is a great warrior for our home state of Queensland and for the resources industry, as reflected in this motion.

There was a point that Senator Canavan made which we should all reflect on—that is, that the gas supply market outlook report indicated that gas-fired power stations, because of gas shortfalls, may have to use diesel fuel to operate. Just reflect on that: gas-fired power stations have been built on the expectation that there would be gas supply—and there's an abundance of gas reserves across this country; we're blessed to have all the gas reserves we have in this country. Those gas-fired power stations built on the presumption that there would actually be gas supply to feed them are actually going to have to rely on diesel fuel, which, as Senator Canavan has said, is the greatest emitter of carbon. Diesel fuel in gas-fired power stations—how did we get to this position with an abundance of reserves? It's absolute madness.

At the same time, I am hearing various calls from various parties for an LNG import terminal for Australia. Again, when issues were raised by stakeholders about constructing an LNG import terminal, it was madness. It's like taking coal to Newcastle: absolute madness given the gas supply that we have in Australia. That is supply that we should not be just using here but exporting. We've seen the United States now overtake Australia and Qatar as an LNG exporter. We're missing those opportunities. The last gas market report, for quarter 1 2024, from the International Energy Association, shows natural gas markets are expected to return to growth in 2024.

Global gas demand is forecast to grow by 2.5 per cent in 2024. Demand for gas, a key transition tool, is still going up. That's what the market reports are telling us. And yet we're having trouble supplying our own gas market. Not only are we not taking advantage of the opportunities that are there all over the world, including in Asia, with regard to LNG exports; we also have insufficient gas to provide security of supply to our own power stations. It's absolute madness.

This all comes back to the timing of the pipeline projects. A project in the gas market, as in any resource market, starts with exploration. You go through a feasibility study and getting your finance for construction and then you start producing. The latest Resources and energy major projects report tells us that project proponents are actually withdrawing their projects. They've given up. Seven projects were dropped altogether in the gas space. Three projects were delayed and 11 did not progress. That is a total of 55 per cent of the major gas projects in this report not going ahead as they should be. But that capital is simply being redeployed overseas, so other nations are going to get the benefit of that capital investment. Other nations are going to get the benefit of those export dollars. Other nations are going to get the benefit of that cheap energy supply. Australia is going to miss out.

Senator Chisholm, in his contribution to the debate, can point the finger over at this side of the chamber. I am proud of the previous coalition government's record of developing our natural resources. It's provided a tidal wave of revenue for the budget, as we've seen over the last few years from all of those resource projects that were approved under the coalition government. But the policy parameters under the current government are convincing the owners of capital, especially capital that could be invested in gas projects, to invest offshore, and that's to the detriment of all Australians.

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time for this discussion has expired.