Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labour's plan to introduce the safeguard mechanism is just another attack on the high-vis workers of Australia and the heavy industries that keep the lights on in our country. The Safeguard mechanism is another carbon tax with a facelift. Not unlike the carbon tax of the Gillard era, the safeguard mechanism serves to place a dollar figure on carbon emissions. Labor has determined that any heavy industry facility that emits more than 100,000 tonnes of scope 1 greenhouse emissions must purchase credits for every tonne of carbon output over their baseline. When Julia Gillard introduced her carbon tax, the price she put on a tonne of carbon was $23. The Albanese government has decided each tonne will cost a business $75 and by 2030 it will increase to $100 a tonne.

Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions are assigned to any industry that emits carbon through a manufacturing process such as manufacturing cement or steel, emissions from a mining truck transporting natural resources or the production of electricity. The climate change minister made a passing visit to Gladstone in January to announce the 215 heavy industry business that fall under the scope 1 emissions and will be required to purchase credits. It will also be mandatory for these facilities to cut their emissions by 5 per cent every year until 2030, in order for Labor to hit its climate targets.

Of the 215 businesses that will be hit, 63 are located in Queensland and all but two of these businesses are situated in the regions. Central Queensland will become the epicentre of Labor's carbon tax, with almost 75 per cent of the facilities located in just two federal electorates. There are 28 operating in my electorate of Capricornia and 18 in the electorate of Flynn. Some of the facilities affected in my electorate include a rail freight facility, a magnesia processing plant and a number of mines across the electorate, all of which contribute heavily to the economy. In Capricornia alone, the total economic contribution of the resource sector in the 2021-22 financial year was worth over $315 million dollars in gross product, and 1,918 locals were employed. In the same period, 166 local businesses and charities situated in Capricornia shared $50 million in direct spending. Coal, metal and gas mining has pumped $9.4 billion back into the Queensland economy, and one in every six jobs in the state is within this sector. There are 14,303 businesses and 1,415 charities that have all shared in $27 billion of direct spending.

Some might think they don't benefit from the hard work of miners, yet in the 2021-22 financial year $9 billion in royalties went into funding education, roads and health. Queensland supplies the world with elements, minerals and metals, supporting the economic development of Australia and many other nations. There have been many federally funded projects that, without the wealth of regional Australian mines, would never have happened, such as the Rockhampton Airport redevelopment, with $45 million; flood-proofing the Bruce Highway into Rockhampton, with $136 million; Rookwood Weir, with $183.6 million; and safety upgrades to the Eton Range, with $166 million, were all made possible because of the resource industry.

While the resource sector has been a mainstay of the Australian economy for the past 100 years, the strength of the industry was particularly noticeable during COVID. Supporting the Australian economy, it helped cushion the blow of damaging economic impacts that may have been experienced in the past few years. The growth within the resources industry has been nothing short of astonishing. In 20 years, the gross value added to the Australian economy grew from $35 billion in 2000-01 to $222 billion dollars by 2020-21. Despite what the Treasurer would like Australians to believe, Labor inherited a strong budget, largely supported by the minerals and energy sector.

In my electorate of Capricornia and across Australia, families and businesses are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. The announcement by the Labor government to impose a carbon tax has more far-reaching effect than just on the companies operating these facilities. It will affect how much families pay to switch a light on and put fuel in their car and will also affect their grocery bills.

We as a country continue to rely on coal as a source of affordable and reliable electricity. Australia is on the verge of a key resources mining boom to meet the high demand for critical minerals that are required for creating low-emission technologies, battery production and electric vehicles. An electric car requires six times the amount of minerals as a regular vehicle. A wind turbine requires several times more minerals than are required for gas- or coal-fired power stations. More than 220 tonnes of coal is needed to build a wind turbine. It is a rather inconvenient truth for climate activists that in order to decarbonise our nation we need more mining.

With the cost of living already bringing people to their knees, now is not the time to impose new legislation to make it harder for families or risk heavy job losses across an industry that has supported Australia to become what it is today. During the previous government we invested almost $2.5 billion to support the resource industries that support us. Thousands of new jobs were created to help families and the towns in which they live. But the Labor government want to impose further legislation to stifle the industry and prevent further growth and investment, while in turn driving up household bills even further to meet their climate objectives.

As the Leader of the Opposition has stated, the coalition does support emissions reduction. What we are not backing is Labor's move to legislate taxes to reach targets. We must learn from what is occurring across the world. There have been more than 2,000 climate change legal cases related to carbon emission reduction legislation that has shelved major projects in countries like the United Kingdom. Major infrastructure projects have ground to a halt while activists have claimed that the work is not conducive to supporting emissions reduction.

Our country and its people cannot afford the economic ramifications of stopping major infrastructure development. As seen in my home state, the state Labor government increased coal royalties, which has had major negative impacts across Central Queensland. Following the Palaszczuk government's decision to create higher coal royalties, BHP suspended its plans to build a new coalmine, causing the loss of $1 billion of investment into the region; 750 construction jobs and 1,200 mining jobs were lost. BMA, which has delivered $17 billion back into the Queensland economy, has stated that it will not make further investments into Central Queensland.

These decisions have dire consequences for the small rural towns who rely on these mines to boost their economies. Nationally, the effects of the safeguard mechanism are already beginning to occur, with Ampol revealing that they will suspend investment decisions worth hundreds of millions of dollars because of Labor's energy policy. While the coalition was in government we supported a carbon trading scheme that allowed businesses to voluntarily reduce their emissions while being rewarded. Labor's changes to the safeguard mechanism will force businesses to buy credits. This is a tax. This safeguard mechanism—carbon tax 2.0—is going to drive up living costs at a time when Australian workers and families can least afford it. Businesses will be forced to pass the increased costs of production onto consumers through higher electricity prices, higher food bills and higher fuel costs, during a time when the government must be looking at putting downward pressure on inflation, interest rates, costs of living and business.

The Labor government is determined to make decisions that will negatively impact the industry and everything that relies on the benefits that resources bring. Our economy is already under the strain of a Labor government, and we are not 12 months into their leadership. Labor do not have tangible solutions to see our country through the cost-of-living crisis. Their only plan is more taxes—taxing the companies that drive the economy, bring investment to the regions and deliver jobs that support families and communities. It is clear that energy-intensive companies and agribusiness, transport and mining will be hit. That is why we got rid of the mining tax and the carbon tax.

Day after day the Prime Minister talks about everything but the cost of living—the No. 1 issue that Australians are facing. This government has broken multiple promises to ease living pressures and instead has taken actions that have directly placed pressure on interest rates and electricity prices. Families and businesses across Australia are still waiting on the promise delivered 97 times during the election that their electricity bills would be reduced under a Labor government. By the government's own admission, power prices are set to rise by more than 63 per cent and gas by 40 per cent over the following two years. Families and businesses can't afford this.

New solutions, not taxes, must occur. The global demand for mineral and energy commodities will continue to accelerate as new technologies call for larger supplies of our resources. Hundreds of thousands of jobs will be on the line if the Labor government continues with its plan to punish the resource sector with taxes. The ones to suffer will be families and communities that greatly benefit from the industry.