Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development. I refer to the answers he gave yesterday on government modelling. Senator Canavan is demanding the release of government modelling that forecasts the impact of net zero emissions on agriculture. Given that the Deputy Prime Minister has admitted that he has the modelling, which shows regional impacts, will he release it?

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for her question and I say to the member for Sydney that I said I clearly had seen the results. I can't help it if the member for Sydney and the tactics of the Labor Party can't read the Hansard, but, if they want to go back and read the Hansard, they will clearly—

No, the Hansard is out there, member for Grayndler. The Hansard is most definitely out there, and you're out there with it! If you had read the Hansard, which is out there, you would know that I said 'the results' of the modelling.

I also said earlier on that I don't pretend for one second to be an expert in nonlinear regression analysis, linear analysis—all the statistical models that are pertinent to modelling. Senator Canavan is. He is one person who is, so I can understand the interest that he may have, because he has the competency and skillset to go over that. The people with that expertise are a very small subset of those that reside in this parliament.

Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction. Will the minister outline to the House the importance of a technology focused approach to reducing emissions and how this approach ensures that we can create jobs and protect industry? Is the minister aware of any alternative approaches?

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for O'Connor for his question. As one of the most experienced farmers in this place, he is a representative of a strong agricultural and mining region in the west of Australia and he understands the importance of a technology led approach to providing affordable, reliable energy and bringing down our emissions. It's developments in technology that will strengthen our regions and reduce our emissions without adding costs and without slashing jobs. That's our focus. It's technology, not taxes, and that's why we expanded ARENA's mandate: so it can invest in all priority technologies on our technology investment road map, including clean hydrogen, clean steel and aluminium, soil carbon regenerating our soils and making them healthier, and carbon capture and storage.

Just overnight the UK announced their plan to get to net zero, which includes $1 billion for a carbon capture and storage fund to reduce emissions by 20 to 30 million tonnes across a series of different hubs. They are very similar to our policy. Like the UK, President Joe Biden has said he will double down on carbon capture and storage. The IEA and the IPCC both regard carbon capture as absolutely essential to achieving the goals of the Paris agreement, and that's crucial to making sure we have strong traditional industries in a country like ours as we bring down our emissions. Indeed, the only people who are refusing to support CCS and the jobs and industries they bought are sitting right there in the Australian Labor Party.

To achieve our stretch goals in our road map, we need utilised the expertise of every agency we have, including ARENA, but again, twice this week, we have seen the Labor Party joining forces with the Greens to vote against the technology led approach to reducing emissions. Talk about the tail wagging the dog. The member for Melbourne's tail wags this dog every day. Seven times they voted against ARENA investing in low-emissions technology, including low-emissions vehicles—electric vehicles. Seven times they voted against more jobs for Australian workers. Seven times they have gone out of their way to undermine the prosperity of regional Australia. Together with the Greens, they seek to weaken our traditional industries of mining, agriculture and manufacturing and undermine our regions.

Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for the Republic) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is a question for the Minister for Regional Development. Given the potential of renewable energy projects in the regions to create jobs and make electricity cheaper, does the minister agree with the Prime Minister that a renewable energy target is 'nuts' and a 'muppet of a proposal'?

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank the member for Kingsford Smith for letting me bat right through the innings. It's obviously been great to have a full day of questions. I reject the premise of the question on the basis that I have not seen, in my electorate—which is a major renewable electorate—the thousands of jobs that he claims that they support. I can assure you that, as you go past the major renewable precincts, you certainly see lots of wind towers but you don't see the so-called thousands of jobs. That is why we make sure that we support where the jobs are. That is why the job of the National Party is to diligently go over this proposal in such a form that we can report back to our people that we have done our best to make sure that we protect their jobs, that, over the coming decades, we protect their standard of living and that we protect their capacity to pay off the houses that they have bought for their families, the cars and the education. That that is the role of the Nationals in regional areas.

I'm happy for the member for Kingsford Smith to come to New England. It's an open invitation. We can travel around, and, if he can find these thousands of jobs, then I would thank him very much for that—because they are just not there.