Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to talk about the shock announcement by the ANZ Bank, who recently pulled funding on the world's biggest coal-exporting terminal in Newcastle under the bank's new climate change policy. Are other banks to follow? Just watch this space. We cannot afford to have this spread to Gladstone and other ports in Queensland and across Australia.

ANZ last year released the most ambitious zero net emissions action plan of the big four banks by imposing low carbon deadlines for the agriculture, energy and transport sectors. The value of our coal exports in December rose by 26 per cent from November, with coal worth $3.7 billion to the economy in December alone. This is going to show that coal is still a vital player in our economy. As we shift nearer to net zero emissions by 2050 we need to make sure we get the balance correct. Did I hear the bank say they were going to finance the importation of solar panels from China or wind turbines from Germany? I'm calling on the banks to get real and support our regional jobs and industry.

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