Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very grateful to the Leader of the Opposition for the question. The Leader of the Opposition asked it in two parts, and I'll answer in two parts. Firstly, she referred to the declaration on transition away from fossil fuels, and she asked if that is government policy. Yes, it is—and it has been since 10 November 2023, when Australia agreed with the Pacific on that exact language, at the Pacific Island Forum leaders meeting, that actually what would be a good thing for the world and for our country would be for more and cheaper renewable energy to increasingly replace fossil fuels, which are more expensive and less reliable. So, that is not a revelation. The declaration says we're for 'a just, orderly and equitable transition away from fossil fuels'. Are you against the 'just' part, the 'orderly' part, the 'equitable' part, or the 'transition' part? I'm not sure—all the above? The Leader of the Opposition then went on to repeat her false allegation, which she has done now on multiple occasions, that somehow the office of president of the COP negotiations is full time.

Let me put it in the clearest possible way: the Leader of the Opposition is either deliberately or not deliberately misleading the House, because it is not true—has never been true. The office of the—

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