Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Does the Prime Minister recall saying about climate change on 27 September this year that ‘people can talk theoretically about what might happen to Australia and the planet in 50 years time’? Doesn’t the Stern report indicate that early action on climate change is necessary to avoid a 20 per cent cut in the global economy over the next 50 years? Prime Minister, isn’t climate change here right now?

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I probably did say something like that. If I did not say it I will say it now. I think it is very important though that, as in all of these things, we do not zealously embrace a particular report or a particular piece of analysis. Of course climate change is occurring.

Opposition Members:

Oh!

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A chorus of approval from the opposition! Dear me, I get a chorus of approval from the opposition!

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Albanese interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Grayndler has asked his question.

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Let me simply say to the member for Grayndler that climate change of course is occurring and the challenge that he has—the challenge that anybody in this parliament that wants to address this thing sensibly has—is to work out the right range of policies to respond with.

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Exactly! The first and most important thing you do when you respond to something is you do not close your mind to one important option.

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms King interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Ballarat is warned!

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And the important option that the Labor Party has already closed its mind to is of course nuclear power. I am not saying that nuclear power is one solution to this; I do not believe that for a moment. Nor do I believe that solar and wind power represent the sole solution to this problem. You need, in my view, a contribution from renewables, and last week the Treasurer and the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources announced a major project that could represent one of the biggest investments in solar power generation in the world. This was announced in concert with the Victorian government, and today in Queensland the minister announced a number of other projects funded by the federal government that are investing in new technologies which are designed to reduce the greenhouse gas impact of the use of fossil fuels. At the moment it is undoubtedly the case that the cheapest source of energy is what is colloquially called ‘dirty coal’. If we just went on using that, we would win the economic debate—

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Albanese interjecting

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am only saying things that the bloke sitting on your right has said, because on this issue the member for Batman speaks a great deal of sense—the member for Batman is on the money. If the member for Batman had the restraints taken off him, he would be on board in relation to nuclear power. And I can tell by the way he laughs and grins that deep down Martin is in the nuclear camp—I know that. I know Martin: if you trawl around enough, you will find Martin and a bit of enriched uranium sitting side by side.

So what you really need in this debate is to have a multiplicity of responses. You do not want to get too theological about it; you want a multiplicity of responses. You will never be able to generate baseload power using solar and wind; you can make a contribution at the margins, you can help in peak hours but you will never be able to generate baseload. The only things that will ever replace the current dirty power stations are cleaner uses of fossil fuel, or nuclear power. You will never replace them with solar or wind.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Albanese interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Grayndler is warned!

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Let me say to the member for Grayndler I rather welcome this debate, because quite plainly what this country needs is a very full debate. It needs a debate that has every option on the table. We do not want closed minds like that of the member for Grayndler. We want the open, expansive, embracing approach of the member for Batman. On this issue the member for Batman has more wisdom than the member for Grayndler because the member for Batman will look at all of the options—and that is certainly in Australia’s longer term interests.

John Forrest (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question follows on from the Prime Minister’s contribution, for it is addressed to the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources. Would the minister update the House on recent government initiatives to support the development of low-emissions technology power generation in Australia? Will these initiatives have particular benefits in my electorate of Mallee?

Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Mallee for his question and for his very strong support of low-emissions technologies, particularly in the area of renewable energy. In fact, I understand that the Mildura and Swan Hill rural city councils have sought to be the solar power municipalities of the world. Taken with last week’s announcement of the biggest solar energy generator in the world being built in Mallee, it shows the way is being led by this government. The inconvenient truth for those who sit opposite is that this government—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister has the call.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You’ve been warned! The inconvenient truth for the member for Grayndler is this: this government has a very, very well-developed set of policies to lower greenhouse gas emissions. They like to think that we are not doing anything, but 2½ years ago we announced the energy white paper and in that white paper there was a whole suite of programs to ensure that this government led the way in terms of lowering emissions.

Last week we announced a $75 million grant for the Solar Systems project that is going to be in the member for Mallee’s seat and, along with that, a $50 million grant for the clean coal project at the Hazelwood power station. These projects involve world-leading technology. This morning I announced a further $125 million for two low-emission projects in Queensland: $75 million for a coal seam methane plant in the member for Maranoa’s electorate, where CO emissions will be captured and injected back into the coal seam, and $50 million for a world’s first project to retrofit a Central Queensland power station—in the member for Capricornia’s electorate, if she is interested—to use oxyfuel technology. With all four projects put together, this is $250 million worth of government funding and $1.5 billion worth of investment by industry, and millions of tonnes of CO will be saved and geosequestered. We will lead the world in a number of those technologies, and I make the point—

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Even though you don’t believe in it.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Lalor is warned.

Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

that these projects would not have happened without this government’s policy that was laid out 2½ years ago and funded two budgets ago.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Albanese interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister will resume his seat. The member for Grayndler has been warned, he continues to interject and he will remove himself under standing order 94(a).

The member for Grayndler then left the chamber.

Martin Ferguson (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Primary Industries, Resources, Forestry and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He’s leaving and I haven’t been warned yet.

Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We know you are on our side, Martin. Dave Holland from Solar Systems said:

The Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund is a key ingredient in accelerating our progress to very large scale, mainstream solar power generation. Without this federal funding, we would not be able to make this project happen.

What this clearly demonstrates is that it is not taxes and targets that deliver low emissions but technology—and it is this government that is investing in that technology.