Bob Katter (Kennedy, Katter's Australian Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think the relevant comment here is from a minister opposite. In saying this, I must praise the government, because the CopperString proposal has already resulted in a vanadium mine announcing its operations and Eva, a big copper mine, announcing it's starting up operations. That is the sort of thing that government does.

I've said previously in this place that I sit under a picture of the great founder of the labour movement in this country, 'Red Ted' Theodore. He wrote to Chifley that the object, the most important function, of government is to provide meaningful work for its people. Now, this is something that takes away meaningful work from our people. The Boyne smelter, it was announced, was going to be duplicated; they have now taken that proposal away.

This is from Madeleine King:

We will not meet our commitment to net zero without the resources sector.

…   …   …   

Taxes and royalties paid by the resources sector make an essential contribution to the services that Australians rely on.

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… it also contributes to community services, emergency services, roads and train lines …

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Some fail to acknowledge this, but Australia's coal and gas resources are essential for energy security, stability and reliability …

No gas—

and no coal—

means no processing of critical minerals …

For those in this place who are not familiar with this, there is no process by which you can extract a mineral without smelting and there is no way you can smelt, really, without coal. So you must understand the implications for industry that are being called upon here. My colleagues who sit on the cross benches want action to happen, and, in fairness to the government, the CopperString proposal will lead to the biggest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere. So you are doing good things—right? But this is not a good thing. It's heading in the opposite direction.

I'll conclude by saying that two of the six biggest bridges in Australia are named after the great Leo Hielscher. Whether it was Bjelke-Petersen or Leo Hielscher, one of them created the coal industry, the tourism industry and the aluminium industry. They were created because they built the biggest power station in the world at Gladstone and because we had a reserved resource policy where the coal was supplied for zero cost. We said, 'If you want to mine coal here, you'll give a percentage to the people of Queensland.' So we had the cheapest electricity in the world. That led to the establishment of the great aluminium industry. I seriously think that you're placing it in jeopardy. Not just by this—I agree with the Prime Minister that this may be a small move—but it's a move very much in the wrong direction. It sends out a signal that you're going to continue to move in this direction.

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