Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) during the 2025 federal election, the then Leader of the Opposition promised to approve Woodside's North West Shelf gas project in Western Australia within 30 days, and the Government approved it within 15 days of being sworn in;

(b) the North West Shelf gas project is estimated to produce annual emissions totalling more than all of Australia's existing coal-fired power plants combined; and

(c) the Government has accepted more than $1 million in donations from Woodside since 2014, making them the tenth largest donor over the last decade; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) cancel the draft approval for Woodside's North West Shelf gas project;

(b) implement a moratorium on new coal and gas projects; and

(c) commit to addressing corporate influence over our political system.

Within 15 days of being sworn in, this Labor government committed a truly criminal betrayal of the Australian people and of future generations all over the world. Labor approved the extension of the North West Shelf gas project to 2070. This project will produce annual emissions greater than all of Australia's existing coal-fired power plants combined. During the 2025 election campaign, Peter Dutton committed to approving it within 30 days. Labor, eager to perhaps prove its loyalty to the gas corporations, did it in half that time. Disgraceful!

There's no doubt we're in a climate crisis. It's everywhere. Every month a new heatwave record is broken somewhere in the world. We've seen historic floods, one after the other, across the country. Record bushfires hit LA in January; now they're smashing Spain and Portugal. Dolphins and seals are washing up dead on the shores of South Australia. This is happening. It's happening now. It's an existential emergency. And what do Labor do? They give an enthusiastic tick of approval to the biggest new fossil fuel project in the Southern Hemisphere. It is beyond cynicism and beyond hypocrisy for the Labor Party to talk up their credentials on renewables and talk about emissions reduction targets only to turn around and approve this monstrosity. Much of this gas is going to be given away largely for free. Next to no tax will be paid on this. It'll create very few jobs. Most of the gas will be for export, and we have enough gas for domestic use already.

It's no coincidence that Woodside is a major donor to both parties. Over the last decade, it donated over $1 million to the Labor Party. Politicians should have to wear logos of the corporations they take donations from, just like rally drivers. Imagine Labor and the coalition politicians walking into parliament sporting the logos of Woodside, Chevron, Westpac and Tabcorp. The jerseys might be different colours, but the logos would be the same. It is truly flabbergasting that, over the last decade, Labor and the LNP have taken over $200 million in donations from corporations.

But let's not kid ourselves that it's just the donations; the rot goes much deeper than that. It's the network of lobbyists. It's the cash-for-access meetings, the revolving door between politics and big business. It is a system of corporate influence that corrodes our democracy and means that the interests of multinational corporations are just about always put ahead of those of everyday people. Why, other than millions in donations and sophisticated lobbying efforts, would Woodside have been approved to extend its completely destructive North West Shelf gas project to 2070, or Chevron be able to force taxpayers to pay $500 million for the clean-up of its oil wells on Barrow Island? This is despite Chevron not paying a cent in corporate taxes for years. This is incredible. It's time to end this corporate stranglehold over our democracy.

And there is perhaps no greater example of the corporate influence on politics than corporate tax avoidance. There's no sector more adept at tax avoidance than Australia's gas industry. On that note, Origin Energy, what's wrong with you? You're actually paying tax! In the last 10 years, $125 billion worth of gas has been shipped out of Gladstone, but nine of the 10 companies involved in exporting that gas paid no tax. These companies reported $330 billion in total revenue to the ATO. So what happened, Origin? Why are you the only company involved in gas exports that has paid a cent of company tax? Fire your accountants.

These multinational gas companies are making a killing exporting our gas, and everyday Australian consumers and businesses are paying for it with rising gas bills. Often they don't even have to buy the gas off us in the first place; they just dig it up, sell it overseas and then hide the profits in a tax haven. Meanwhile, the Minister for the Environment and Water's first act after the election was to fly to Western Australia and clear the way for Woodside's North West Shelf gas extension. That's another $215 billion worth of resources given away for free to a massive gas corporation.

These giant corporations are ripping us off. They're wrecking our climate. They're making our future less and less liveable, and they've got both of the major parties happily dancing to their tune.

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the member for Ryan's motion and reserve my right to speak.

Tom French (Moore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to oppose the motion put forward by the member for Ryan. In my electorate of Moore, we are lucky to be home to some of Western Australia's most remarkable natural environments, from Yellagonga National Park to the coastal dunes protected by groups like the Friends of Sorrento Beach and Marmion Foreshore and the Friends of Trigg Bushland. Local volunteers like Mike Norman and Jann McFarlane know better than most that protecting the environment takes hard work, collaboration and delivery—not slogans and stunts.

The member for Ryan's party often talks about ambition, but ambition alone won't cut emissions or create jobs. Ambition without delivery leaves us with headlines, not outcomes. This government is focused on action because Australians expect it to get on with the job. Labor came to office with a mandate to act decisively on climate change, seize the economic opportunities of clean energy and lower power bills for households and businesses. That's exactly what we are doing, because Australians voted for progress, not paralysis.

We have legislated a 43 per cent emissions reduction target by 2030—the most ambitious target ever endorsed by the Australian parliament. We've also set a pathway to net zero by 2050, backed by science and grounded in evidence, because Australians cannot afford another lost decade of climate inaction. Through our safeguard-mechanism reforms, we've made sure Australia's biggest polluters actually reduce their emissions rather than shift the problem elsewhere. For the first time, we have a system that makes emissions reduction a condition of doing business in this country, and we're making the investments needed to make this transition work. We're rolling out billions in renewable energy, storage and transmission projects through initiatives like Rewiring the Nation.

This isn't just good environmental policy; it's sound economic management. Every dollar invested in clean energy today helps secure lower power prices for tomorrow. It builds resilience in our grid, creates thousands of secure, well-paying jobs and positions Australia as a leader in the industries of the future. We're not just responding to climate change; we're using the moment to reshape our economy for decades to come. We're also backing Australian manufacturing through the National Reconstruction Fund because we want solar panels, batteries and green steel made right here by Australian workers. The clean energy revolution should mean more jobs in our suburbs, stronger industries in our regions and a fairer, more sustainable economy for everyone.

I'll now turn to the Greens. They often describe themselves as the party of the environment, but, when the chance came to deliver real change, they failed at the one job they claim to hold above all others. In 2009, when Labor introduced the economy-wide carbon-pricing mechanism, the single most effective tool to drive down emissions, instead of working with us to lock in lasting reform, the Greens teamed up with the Liberals to block it. That decision cost Australia over a decade of meaningful climate action—a decade where emissions kept rising and power prices went up and we lost our competitive edge in clean technology. We're playing catch-up now because the Greens put purity over progress.

Even today, we still hear lectures from those opposite about ambition. But ambition is easy; delivery is harder. While the Greens talk, this government gets on with the business of reducing emissions, building renewable industries and creating jobs for Australians. Labor is, and always has been, the true party of the environment. It was a Labor government that created Landcare, established the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and put solar on rooftops across the country. It was a Labor government that protected the Great Barrier Reef, legislated to save the Murray-Darling Basin and drove the last major expansion of Australia's renewable energy sector.

When Australians look back at every major environmental achievement, they see a Labor government behind it. This government is continuing that legacy. We are driving a renewable energy boom, helping households electrify their homes and cutting emissions, while growing secure jobs in clean industries. We are leading the country through the most significant economic transformation since the Industrial Revolution, and we are doing it responsibly. We understand that Australians want more than political theatre. They want results. While others argue, we legislate. (Time expired)

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Speaking of political theatre, I appreciate what the member for Moore has said, but Labor and the Greens still would have swapped preferences at the last election. The member for Moore and the member for Ryan both would have enjoyed and benefited from each other's preferences in their respective seats. This motion was brought in by the leader of the Greens in the House of Representatives, the member for Ryan—and she is the leader because she is the only one left. It's a bit like TheLast of the Mohicans. I do respect the member for Ryan. She is alone for a simple reason. It's because Australia has woken up to the woke Greens. Australia knows full well that, if we let the Greens take charge of the treasury benches and financial policy, then there won't be any money to keep the lights on. There won't be any money to fund schools and hospitals. This is the sort of motion that we have in this parliament. It's a time-waster brought in to stop Woodside—a good company; a responsible company; a company that is helping to pay royalties to keep the lights on, to keep hospitals funded, to keep people well and to keep children educated.

The federal government announced a proposed decision to grant environmental approval to extend the operating life of the North West Shelf project in May 2025. This followed six years of rigorous environmental assessment at both the state and Commonwealth level. Let me tell you—you don't get approval to mine anything, to dig anything up, to drill anything and to extract anything in this nation unless there are proper protocols and processes followed. Woodside has been made to do everything in its power, and others besides, to get this project up and running. A final decision to approve the proposal would enable the North West Shelf joint venture to continue its present operations beyond 2030, and that's important because we're talking about royalties here. It's not only that; it's also an economic lift for Western Australia and, indeed, jobs.

If the Greens had their way, we'd all be ecotourists. We'd be going out to the Murray-Darling and saying: 'Oh, this is where we used to grow fruit and vegetables. This is where we used to allow irrigators and farmers to do what they did best in the world.' And then we'd go to a mine site and say: 'This is where we used to dig up iron ore. This is where we used to produce items and minerals to be able to produce steel, to be able to have a construction industry—to be able to do all the things that made Australia's export and balance of payments great, but now we do not.' This is on Labor's watch. It's on the Greens. They are not an environmental party—make no mistake. They are about changing the social fabric of this nation. That's what the Greens are. Gone are the days of Bob Brown and environmental activism; now it's social activism. Now it's marching on the streets for every cause, with every protester and with every rent-seeker in this nation. Make no mistake—that's what the Greens are about. The Greens are about changing the way we live and making sure that we follow every little trendy thing on TikTok that is going to ruin our nation.

If we follow the Greens, that's where they will take us—and not too far behind will be the Labor Party because, unfortunately, the Labor Party relies on Green preferences, many of them to get elected. They're one and the same. But we in the coalition do believe in those people who put on hard hats, go underground, get themselves dirty and get dirt under their fingernails to make sure we have a mining industry, and we should not demonise the mining industry. We should be very proud of what the mining industry has done for our nation.

I heard the member for Moore talk about the Murray-Darling Basin in his address. The proposals and the changes to the draft plan for the Murray-Darling Basin put forward by me and other National Party members and regional Liberals have saved the very best food- and fibre-producing area in this nation. It wasn't the Greens, and it certainly wasn't Labor. This motion should be condemned for what it represents: nothing.

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.