Colin Boyce (Flynn, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's not often that the gods of politics smile upon me, but right here before me I have the member for McMahon, who is the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, who I've got some questions for. It's all in relation to the 'Decarbonising diesel industries' report written by the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. What they're proposing is decarbonising diesel industries and, in fact, taking away the diesel fuel rebate scheme from both the mining resource sector and the agriculture, fisheries, forestry and transport industry. Their conclusion says by 'increasing the cost of diesel in a targeted and balanced way, Australia can accelerate its industrial decarbonisation'. Now I would like to know, Minister, exactly what this is going to cost the economy. There are 300,000 registered businesses that use the fuel tax credit scheme, and I declare I have one of them, as do my sons. I want to know how this is going to affect the economy. If you take away this diesel fuel rebate scheme, it will cost all of those producers more, and they will pass that cost on to consumers, and ultimately that will drive the cost of living up even further.

Furthermore, in this report they go on to propose we lower the threshold of the safeguard mechanism—the cost impost on companies emitting over 100,000 tonnes, which will affect 215 of the biggest companies in Australia—down to 25,000 tonnes. Again, that will affect many, many more businesses in Australia. We know in Central Queensland 30 per cent of those big businesses are affected now. How many more will now be affected, and what will be the economic cost? This is an important topic to discuss because the government simply will not answer the question: what is the economic cost of the road we're going on to decarbonisation and of trying to achieve net zero by 2050? So I say to the minister, who is here listening to me, he should come out and tell us exactly what this is going to cost the economy, tell us how many businesses will be affected and tell us how that will transfer itself to the cost of everything for consumers, to whom that cost will be passed. So here we are, and I wait for the minister's reply.