Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Senator Wong) to questions without notice I asked today relating to fossil fuels.

I note for the chamber that this is not my first speech. When Labor announced its gas industry expansion plan last week, to keep pumping out coal and gas beyond 2050, it confirmed beyond doubt that gas corporations control the Australian Labor Party. The Albanese government claims to be acting on climate, yet its future gas expansion plan has again revealed that backing gas corporations is much higher on its agenda than protecting the future of our kids and of respecting the wishes of traditional owners right across this country.

Over the next decade, a critical decade for our climate and our planet, this government will pump almost $50 billion into subsidising dirty coal and gas projects—this at a time when we are veering towards ecological and climate collapse. Members of my community in Victoria were rightly surprised by the Albanese government's direction to open up new gas fields for the future when they know, and we know, that cheap, clean, renewable energy generation and storage is the best way forward. Instead of reducing our gas use, the government is choosing a fossil fuel expansion plan that stretches long into the future, long after many people in this place will have moved on and will no longer be here to clean up the mess that the government has created for our kids.

The consequences of this betrayal for our communities and planet cannot be underestimated. We cannot forget what's at stake and what this means for Australia's efforts to meet our climate targets. Any climate focused efforts, programs or initiatives touted by the government will be absolutely dwarfed by the emissions generated by their fossil fuel expansion plan. We are living through a climate crisis. People and communities on the front lines of climate change are fighting for their survival. Floods and fires are becoming more intense and frequent. Storms and sea-level rise are hitting coastal communities with increasing force. Tragically, our Great Barrier Reef is bleached and dying.

Australia is one of the biggest exporters of fossil fuels in the world, and now the Labor Party is going to spend public money expanding gas production beyond 2050—gas production, by the way, that produces methane, which is 80 times more potent in warming the planet than CO2. Then the government lets these gas corporations get away with paying little to no tax.

The Treasurer's budget speech last night barely mentioned coal and gas and only once name-checked the climate. But, despite the minister's speech, this budget retains billions in fossil fuel subsidies, including $1.5 billion for the Middle Arm gas precinct. What Labor is trying to hide is that a Future Made in Australia is actually a future for coal and gas past 2050. When Labor announced its gas industry expansion plan last week, members of my community in Victoria were surprised by the chorus of Labor MPs who spoke out at the same time.

If Labor backbenchers don't vote against the future gas strategy, they cannot claim to be doing everything they can. They are simply grandstanding. Claiming that they were blindsided by Labor's position on coal and gas is frankly not credible. It's betrayal. Community members in places like Macnamara, Wills, Higgins and Cooper, in my electorate, and across Australia, from Richmond over to Perth and Fremantle, and from Sturt up to Moreton, will not forget this betrayal. They will not be further deceived by this government prioritising dirty fossil fuels over their futures. At every hurdle, Labor has comprehensively caved to pressure from fossil fuel corporations. Australians deserve better. Our planet deserves better. The Greens will continue to fight alongside our communities against gas expansion and for a safe climate future.

Question agreed to.