House debates

Monday, 21 June 2021

Questions without Notice

Climate Change

3:00 pm

Photo of Michael McCormackMichael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

Our policies on climate are working, and they are working for the benefit of all Australians. We beat our Kyoto-era targets by 459 million tonnes. Our emissions are down more than 20 per cent from 2005 to December last year, compared to an OECD average of 6.6 per cent from 2005 to 2018. We should be proud of doing what we're doing and having achieved what we've achieved as far as climate action—responsible climate action—is concerned. But we will not, as Liberals and as Nationals, put in place policies that are going to jeopardise the jobs and livelihoods of Australians who depend on it. Indeed, we have put in place a manufacturing policy which is funding, which is investing in, which is backing and which is supporting those people who want an industry base, who need a job in our manufacturing sectors. Those manufacturing sectors have a high energy need, a great power input requirement, and we will back every step of the way the climate policies that not only back and support those jobs but, at the same time, keep household energy and electricity prices low.

The alternative is what Labor offer—Labor pulled at the nose by the Greens, pulled at the nose by the member for Melbourne. What they want to do is what they did when they were last in power—that is, put in place a carbon tax that will affect the price of houses, the price of new homes, and every household right across the nation.

Comments

No comments