House debates

Tuesday, 30 May 2017

Questions without Notice

Mining

2:16 pm

Photo of Malcolm TurnbullMalcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. It gives me cause to ask this: does the Greens party believe, with their friends in the Labor Party, that Queenslanders should not have jobs? Or do they believe that Indians should not have electricity? Because the reality is this: India is going to need four times as much electricity between now and 2033, and they are going to generate that from many means—from renewables, from gas, from coal. They are going to use more coal in absolute terms for many years. And, if they do not import it from Australia, they will import it from somewhere else.

So for all of his sanctimony, for all of his empathy, the reality is this: the people of India are entitled to have the electricity they need; they are entitled to deliver it in the manner they deem appropriate. They will burn coal less in proportionate terms over the future but more in absolute terms for many years.

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