Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Scientists tell us that to protect our future we need to keep most of our coal in the ground, but last week you told big miners that you could think of few things worse. With global warming the biggest ever threat to the Australian way of life, why are you adopting a policy of appeasement? Prime Minister, why are you a climate change Chamberlain when we need a Churchill?

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I call the honourable Prime Minister. He will ignore the last part of the question.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Like the member who asked me the question, I want to protect the environment. But unlike the member who asked me the question, I do not want to destroy the economy in the process. Even the Labor Party finally worked out that any environmental policy that closed down the coal industry was a policy that no sensible Australian government could follow.

I am all in favour of protecting our environment but I will tell you what else I am in favour of: I am also in favour of economic growth—not just in this country but right around the world. If we are going to have economic growth—not just in this country but right around the world—it will require energy. It will require energy, and by far the most efficient and effective source of baseload energy is coal.

It is interesting that members of the Labor Party are now cheering-on their Green coalition partner. Let the coal workers of Australia know that Labor members of this parliament, by the interjections, are agreeing with that Green up there. They want to close the coal industry down. We want the coal industry to be an important part of Australia's economic future, and the world's, for the benefit of us and for the benefit of people everywhere.