Tom French (Moore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to oppose the motion put forward by the member for Ryan. In my electorate of Moore, we are lucky to be home to some of Western Australia's most remarkable natural environments, from Yellagonga National Park to the coastal dunes protected by groups like the Friends of Sorrento Beach and Marmion Foreshore and the Friends of Trigg Bushland. Local volunteers like Mike Norman and Jann McFarlane know better than most that protecting the environment takes hard work, collaboration and delivery—not slogans and stunts.

The member for Ryan's party often talks about ambition, but ambition alone won't cut emissions or create jobs. Ambition without delivery leaves us with headlines, not outcomes. This government is focused on action because Australians expect it to get on with the job. Labor came to office with a mandate to act decisively on climate change, seize the economic opportunities of clean energy and lower power bills for households and businesses. That's exactly what we are doing, because Australians voted for progress, not paralysis.

We have legislated a 43 per cent emissions reduction target by 2030—the most ambitious target ever endorsed by the Australian parliament. We've also set a pathway to net zero by 2050, backed by science and grounded in evidence, because Australians cannot afford another lost decade of climate inaction. Through our safeguard-mechanism reforms, we've made sure Australia's biggest polluters actually reduce their emissions rather than shift the problem elsewhere. For the first time, we have a system that makes emissions reduction a condition of doing business in this country, and we're making the investments needed to make this transition work. We're rolling out billions in renewable energy, storage and transmission projects through initiatives like Rewiring the Nation.

This isn't just good environmental policy; it's sound economic management. Every dollar invested in clean energy today helps secure lower power prices for tomorrow. It builds resilience in our grid, creates thousands of secure, well-paying jobs and positions Australia as a leader in the industries of the future. We're not just responding to climate change; we're using the moment to reshape our economy for decades to come. We're also backing Australian manufacturing through the National Reconstruction Fund because we want solar panels, batteries and green steel made right here by Australian workers. The clean energy revolution should mean more jobs in our suburbs, stronger industries in our regions and a fairer, more sustainable economy for everyone.

I'll now turn to the Greens. They often describe themselves as the party of the environment, but, when the chance came to deliver real change, they failed at the one job they claim to hold above all others. In 2009, when Labor introduced the economy-wide carbon-pricing mechanism, the single most effective tool to drive down emissions, instead of working with us to lock in lasting reform, the Greens teamed up with the Liberals to block it. That decision cost Australia over a decade of meaningful climate action—a decade where emissions kept rising and power prices went up and we lost our competitive edge in clean technology. We're playing catch-up now because the Greens put purity over progress.

Even today, we still hear lectures from those opposite about ambition. But ambition is easy; delivery is harder. While the Greens talk, this government gets on with the business of reducing emissions, building renewable industries and creating jobs for Australians. Labor is, and always has been, the true party of the environment. It was a Labor government that created Landcare, established the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and put solar on rooftops across the country. It was a Labor government that protected the Great Barrier Reef, legislated to save the Murray-Darling Basin and drove the last major expansion of Australia's renewable energy sector.

When Australians look back at every major environmental achievement, they see a Labor government behind it. This government is continuing that legacy. We are driving a renewable energy boom, helping households electrify their homes and cutting emissions, while growing secure jobs in clean industries. We are leading the country through the most significant economic transformation since the Industrial Revolution, and we are doing it responsibly. We understand that Australians want more than political theatre. They want results. While others argue, we legislate. (Time expired)

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