Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is again addressed to the Prime Minister. Has the Prime Minister ruled out committing, before the next election, to net zero emissions by 2050?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for the question, because we would like to achieve it, and we have an aspiration that we would like to see this achieved. We have no issue with being able to achieve this, at some point in the future—indeed, as we have already committed to under the Paris accords, in the second half of this century. That is actually a commitment as part of the accord. That is the same commitment that countries that have signed up to the Paris accord have also committed to. Indeed, there are only four countries in the world today who have committed through the formal process to the very exercise that the Leader of the Opposition is outlining. That is a formal process which has accountabilities attached to it.

But I'll tell you what I'm not going to do. What I'm not going to do is make a commitment to the Australian people when I can't tell them the cost of it and when I can't tell them what it would mean for their jobs, their incomes and their livelihoods. I won't make such a reckless commitment as that. What I will do, what the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction will do, and what my cabinet and my government will do is put in place the technology and the investment in the technology that is necessary to get us to the place that the Leader of the Opposition has referred to. I know this: if you can't get there by technology, the only way to get there is by taxes, and that's why the Leader of the Opposition is so quick to commit. The Leader of the Opposition and the Labor Party are not committed to getting there by technology; they are committed to getting there by taxes. And they will not be upfront with the Australian people, just as they were not at the last election when the former Leader of the Opposition could not explain the cost of their policies to the Australian people. The Australian people smelt a rat, and they rejected the policies of the opposition, because they could not come clean with the Australian people about what it meant for them.

We would like to achieve these goals. We think they're good goals. We think we should be ensuring that we invest in the technology and working with countries around the world to achieve these goals, but they must be achieved by technological advancement that does not cost Australians jobs. My members agree with this position. They agree strongly with this position. And the member for Hunter agrees with us, as well. The member for Hunter has been driven out of the shadow cabinet by an ideological group of zealots on that side of the House who have no interest in the jobs of Australians in regional areas. That is the view of the member for Hunter—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister's time has concluded.

An honourable member interjecting—

No, the call goes to the government side.