Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

SITOU () (): My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. How is the Albanese Labor government renewing Australia's international engagement on climate change and how has been the response?

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

I thank the honourable member for her question and thank her for her leadership on climate issues. I very much enjoyed working with her on things like a community battery for her electorate and other things.

The honourable member knows we are acting domestically and we are acting in our region, and we are acting internationally to restore our nation's reputation as well. In this government, we understand that better climate policy is better foreign policy and is better economic policy as well. It's in our national interest. It's in our region, where our brothers and sisters in the Pacific are at the front line of the climate change crisis. They know how much is at stake, and we know how much is at stake as well.

For some small island developing states, climate related natural disasters have already cost them 200 per cent of the size of their economy. That's the sort of thing at stake here, including in our broader region, as a country that neighbours the world's largest archipelago, Indonesia, which has so much at stake. I very much enjoyed the working relationship I've developed with my counterpart, Arifin Tasrif, as chair of the G20 energy ministers meeting in recent months. Better international engagement is also important for our ambition for Australia to be a renewable energy powerhouse, our ambition to export renewable energy around the world, creating jobs and investment as we do so. This is a key fortnight for international engagement, with the COP convening in Egypt.

When parliament rises I'll be departing for Egypt with my assistant minister, Senator McAllister, representing Australia for the negotiations next week. I know that Australia will receive a warm welcome there. I know that, because that warm welcome has been expressed over the last 24 hours,

The outgoing president of the COP, the Rt Hon. Alok Sharma, said this overnight: 'How can I put this this diplomatically? The government of Australia is back at the front line in the fight against climate change'. I note the comments of the former US president Al Gore, who said: 'Earlier this year, the people of Australia chose to start leading the renewable energy revolution.'

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Members on my left! The Leader of the Nationals! The member for Groom will stop interjecting.

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

They can mock—they like to mock, Mr Speaker. But the fact of the matter is that Australia is back at the international table because we know that good climate policy is good economic policy. We know that good climate policy creates jobs in our regions and investments in our regions, who have powered Australia for so long. We understand what is at stake. We are the developed country with the most to lose from unchecked climate change and natural disasters—floods, fires and cyclones. All of this is at stake. The people who have suffered from floods over recent months can expect them to get worse and more frequent. It's the same with bushfires. We are also the developed country with the most to gain from real action on climate change. That's what the Albanese government will deliver.