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

Let me run through some of the great achievements of the Labor Party. The Labor Party have always made it their case that they prefer to put a tax on carbon. That has always been their preferred position. That has been their position federally. What they have done since then, whether it is with respect to gas or renewable energy, is put Australians' businesses and households at risk with higher prices and less secure electricity. The track record in South Australia, delivered by a Labor government over many years, is probably the most egregious. They have built up an enormous wind reserve and no storage at all—no backup at all. They did not even think about it. Completely mindless, thoughtless—all ideology, all politics, all slogans; no economics, no engineering. And then we see their achievements with gas. Let us reflect on this. Under the last federal Labor government and under a Queensland Labor government, they succeeded in allowing for the export of gas from Queensland. Fair enough. And new coal seam gas resources were tapped into. Fair enough. But did they give any thought to the domestic market? No, not at all—again, thoughtless, mindless. They got us into the situation where we had more of our gas being exported every day, to the point where Australian businesses, Australian industries and Australian households were being asked to pay more for gas than the customers of the gas exporters in Japan were. That is the consequence of Labor's approach to energy—thoughtless, slipshod political ideology with no economics and no engineering. We are delivering for Australian households affordable, secure energy and are meeting our emission commitments.

Opposition members interjecting—

Mr Husic interjecting—

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