Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I heard the member earlier talking about support or otherwise for coal, and I've come out very strongly in support of the coal industry, as have Labor; it's in our national platform and it's in many statements I and many others have made. What I do want to point out to the minister and others in the room is that there is a threat facing Australia's resources exports other than a decline in trade with China—that is, the government's refusal to commit to net zero emissions by 2050. It's obvious from the G7 meeting that we saw earlier this week that this government is completely isolated on the world stage when it comes to taking action on climate change. More than 120 countries, including 70 per cent of our trading partners, as well as every state and territory in this country, including Queensland and WA, our biggest resources states, have committed to a target of net zero emissions by 2050. I might add that joining them are our largest exporters and our largest resource companies, who are therefore the largest employers in this country—BHP, Rio Tinto, Fortescue, Santos, INPEX and many more. These are the job creators of this nation, and they have all decided to adopt a net zero emissions target by 2050. Industry groups have also—we know APPEA supports and has called for the government to align its policies with international policies to reach net zero emissions by 2050. But this government has not done so. Our exporters understand that action is urgently needed and the cost of inaction will be steep. That is why they are committing to net zero emissions in the absence of leadership by this government. Our resources exporters are facing the prospect of carbon border taxes, which are being actively considered by the European Union, the UK and were even legislated by the US Congress way back in 2009.

Minister, my question is: When will you and your government realise that you are completely out of touch with the policy settings and frameworks that Australia needs for the 21st century resources industry? When will you and your government admit that the coalition's inaction on climate change presents a serious threat to our exports of minerals and energy? You are damaging Australia's future resources trade. It's time this government had a good look at what the international community are doing and started getting with the program and being more positive about this and working with it so that all our export industries, particularly our resources industry, can work with you and with the rest of the community to reach net zero emissions.

I do have some other questions for the minister. I would like to know what the government's plan is to make sure sanctions introduced by China, which have already wiped out the Australian red wine industry by 96 per cent—that's how much their exports have gone down—will not affect the resources industry. Will the government listen to industry leaders and take their concerns seriously, in the national interest of maintaining and improving our trade-in-resources relationship? Just last month, BHP Minerals Australia President, Edgar Basto, warned the Morrison government of the risk these long-running tensions with China bring to Australia's largest-trading partnership. Mr Basto is one of the business voices the government would probably rather not hear on the China trade relationship, but we should listen to Mr Basto because BHP employs more than 45,000 people as employees or contractors across this country.

A report in the Sydney Morning Herald last month raised the prospect that China could widen its trade sanctions on Australia to target LNG exports, which account for $13 billion a year and thousands of jobs. Minister, are you concerned about the prospect of this happening? What is this government actually doing to ensure that our other biggest exports, including LNG and iron ore, are not caught up in these trade tensions?

I want to reflect on a few of the reports this government has issued in relation to the resources sector. Recently there was a media release announcing the $20 million Global Resources Strategy to build new markets for Australia's resource exports and to develop closer relationships with key trading partners. Minister, why have you abandoned a plan to create the Strategic Resources Advisory Group, an expert body intended to provide advice on the challenges and opportunities for exporters? Your predecessor, Senator Canavan, promised to implement the Strategic Resources Advisory Group back in 2019, but it has sunk without a trace.

We have the new Global Resources Strategy. What is going on with that? And what about the Resources 2030 Taskforce report? What happened to that? How is your government progressing this to make resources a stronger and more sustainable export industry well into the future? This government treats that report a bit like it did with the India Economic Strategy—again a massive report that was totally ignored by this government. There's lots of money on reports and no action. Minister, what will you do to make sure the resources industry stays strong?

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