Renee Coffey (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

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That this House:

(1) notes the:

(a) Government has accepted the Climate Change Authority's independent advice and has set Australia's climate change target at a range of between 62 to 70 per cent on 2005 emissions;

(b) release of the National Climate Risk Assessment, which found that no Australian community will be immune from climate risks that will be cascading, compounding and concurrent; and

(c) release of the Department of the Treasury's modelling on 18 September, which found Australia's ambitious and achievable plan to reduce emissions will support continued economic growth, higher living standards and employment, including 2.3 million more people being employed by 2035, and Australia's economy being up to $2 trillion worse off cumulatively by 2050 compared to a disorderly transition scenario;

(2) recognises the Government is delivering on its promises which Australians voted for to act on climate change, upgrade our energy system and seize the economic opportunity before our nation; and

(3) calls on the Opposition to leave the climate wars in the past, solve its internal divisions and join the rest of the Parliament in taking meaningful action on climate change.

My electorate of Griffith is a diverse one—young families alongside older Australians, university students, thriving culturally and linguistically diverse communities, small business owners, healthcare workers, people getting by on a little and people with much more—and while this diversity leads to a range of views on many issues it became clear through my door knocking on the lead-up to the last election of almost 15,000 homes in my electorate that there is one issue most people and Griffith agree on—that is, that climate change is a real and clear and absolutely present danger for us globally, across Australia and locally in my community of Griffith.

The people in my community didn't need to wait to read the recently released national climate risk assessments to see the risks that climate change poses to our community. They've shovelled sand into countless sandbags at depots while exhausted and shovelled mud out of their homes after floods in 2011 and again in 2022 with broken hearts. Both flood events were meant to be one-in-100-year events. They occurred just 11 short years apart. Large parts of my community, in suburbs like South Brisbane, West End and Woolloongabba, were inundated in these devastating floods, with people losing so much.

The National Climate Risk Assessment was a grim confirmation of what we already know. No Australian community will be immune from climate risks, which will be cascading, compounding and concurrent. Lee, a constituent from my community of Camp Hill, recently shared with me:

It was really not until nine years ago, as our grandchildren started to arrive—we have seven of them now—that I started to read seriously about climate science and began to appreciate the existential crisis that we are … facing.

Sophie, another constituent, from Greenslopes, who is worried about our shared future, noted: 'Climate change is already reshaping our lives with more extreme heatwaves, bushfires, floods and storms, and it's only getting worse.'

While we can no longer avoid climate impacts, every action we take today towards our climate goal of net zero by 2050 can help avoid the worst impacts on Australians. I'm proud to be part of a government that knows climate change is real. This government doesn't ignore the experts. We listen to the science and we act in Australia's best national interests. That's why we've acted on the advice of the Climate Change Authority. Recently we announced that we have accepted the Climate Change Authority's advice that Australia's 2035 emissions target be 62 to 70 per cent, a target that is responsible, responsive to the science, backed by a practical plan to get there and built on proven technology. Since May 2022, we've added over 18 gigawatts of renewables, wind and solar, to the grid. Wind and solar capacity is up 45 per cent since we came in to government. That's more than four times the capacity of the Snowy hydro scheme. As for our cheaper home battery policy, over 100,000 batteries have now been installed across the country, with more on the way.

Australia has everything we need to succeed to get to net zero: the resources, the technology, the people and the will. But we need leadership, not political games. While this government gets on with the job of fighting for Australia's future, the opposition continues to fight with itself. I knew, coming in to this parliament, that there would be many debates and differences of opinion, but I never imagined we would still see arguments about the validity of climate change. We have a Leader of the Opposition vowing to oppose any attempt to legislate Australia's climate targets. Before that, she said the coalition doesn't believe in setting targets at all, in government or in opposition. That's not leadership; that's abandoning responsibility. We have the member for Hume describing emissions targets as 'a wrecking ball through the economy', even as independent modelling shows the exact opposite. That's not leadership; that's fearmongering in defiance of the facts. The member for New England dismisses the science outright, calling climate action 'a ludicrous proposition with net zero effect'. That's not leadership; that is wilful ignorance.

Australians deserve better. They deserve a parliament that treats their future with seriousness, not slogans. They deserve a plan that creates good, secure jobs, lowers energy bills and ensures our kids and our grandkids inherit a liveable planet. The Albanese Labor government is delivering exactly that. We're listening to the science, investing in people and acting in the national interest. We are determined to leave the climate wars in the past and to build a clean, reliable and affordable energy future for all Australians.

So I call on those opposite: leave behind the denial, the delay and the division and join with us in taking meaningful action on climate change, because the cost of inaction is too great and the opportunity before us is too important to waste another decade, because the science is clear, the economics are clear and the Australian people are clear—they want progress, not politics.

The choice before us is simple. We can lead the world in the clean energy future, or be left behind by it. The Albanese Labor government chooses leadership for our communities, for our economy and for the generations ahead.

Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Ash Ambihaipahar (Barton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Kate Chaney (Curtin, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is much in the motion moved by the member for Griffith that I support. I commend the government on its commitment to a 2035 emissions reduction target, and I hope that the government will legislate that target soon to provide some policy certainty. But much more needs to be done beyond setting targets. There's a worrying contradiction in the government speaking about climate action successes while simultaneously forgoing billions of dollars in tax revenue from bigger emitters to effectively make fossil fuels cheaper.

Today I'm calling for reform to the diesel fuel tax credit scheme. The diesel fuel tax credit scheme allows large mining companies to claim a rebate for their use of diesel in mining vehicles and equipment. This scheme incentivises major mining companies to keep burning fossil fuels instead of decarbonising. In FY 2024, $2.9 billion in diesel fuel tax credits was paid to 15 mining and freight companies, and the diesel that was rebated produced more than 16 million tonnes of CO2. That's huge. More emissions come from this diesel that we're effectively subsidising than from all our planes, buses and trains combined. We're trying to drive the energy transition with our foot on both the accelerator and the brake.

There's an increasing chorus of voices calling for a fix to this contradiction. Recently, the head of the Climate Change Authority, Matt Kean, joined this chorus. The safeguard mechanism, which is designed to push heavy industry to reduce its emissions, effectively charges companies $35 per tonne of CO2 when they emit too much, but the diesel fuel tax credits provide a subsidy of approximately $190 for every tonne of CO2. So, if you are a large mining company, the subsidy that you get when you stick with diesel is five times the size of the penalty that you pay for emitting too much. Why would you decarbonise? This crazy policy means companies are having to choose between the right thing for the country and better returns for shareholders. We need to line those incentives up so companies can make the best decisions for shareholders and the country.

As a Western Australian, I know the importance of the mining industry and I know mining companies are not a bottomless pit of money. Government should be supporting them through the energy transition so they can continue to drive Australian prosperity as the world changes, but propping up fossil fuel use is not the best way to do this. Weaning them off diesel subsidies and incentivising them to decarbonise is the best way to meet the expectations of the millions of Australians who are committed to climate action and ensure a smoother transition for the mining industry. That's why I support the clean energy finance reform proposal, which is to introduce a $50 million cap on the diesel fuel tax credit paid. Above that cap, any credits would be retained by the company, but only if they are reinvested in decarbonisation. In other words, we can convert a fossil fuel subsidy into a clean tech investment incentive. On last year's numbers, this affects only 15 companies. No farmers or small businesses would be impacted. The credits given to big mining companies would be invested in futureproofing these companies by breaking their reliance on fossil fuels.

Some will say we should get rid of this effective subsidy altogether, but, for now, this model presents a sensible step that creates the right incentives without driving up the cost of food or transport. Some will say that fuel tax shouldn't be paid on diesel used off road because the tax pays for the roads, but that hasn't been the case for decades. The hypothecation of fuel taxes for road funding was abolished in 1959, and, since 1992, there's been no formal link between fuel excise and road funding. Today the fuel excise is simply a revenue measure, and spending on roads is a completely separate expenditure. We will need to rethink whether we ask users to pay for roads as transport goes electric, but that work could be done in parallel.

Some will say that the tech to replace diesel isn't ready. Yes, some tech is at an early stage, but investment from our mining majors will bring these technologies down the cost curve. Importantly, this simply isn't a good reason to keep a policy that means taxpayers forgo $3 billion a year to help our large mining companies keep burning fossil fuels. If we want to hit our 2035 and 2050 targets, if we want a strong, sustainable mining sector in WA and around Australia and if we want taxpayers' money working for the future rather than the past, we must align our fiscal settings with our climate ambitions. Let's convert this support for fossil fuels into a clean tech investment incentive so every dollar invested pushes us forward.

Ash Ambihaipahar (Barton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this motion moved by the wonderful member for Griffith. It's a very important motion for my community in Barton as well. It outlines the Albanese government's commitment to both recognising and responding to climate change. Recognising and responding are two separate things. The first, recognition, was delivered by the Labor Party way back in 2007 when the wonderful Kevin Rudd—Kevin 07—called climate change 'the great moral challenge of our generation' and warned that delaying action would be 'reckless and irresponsible'. It's now 2025, and the National and Liberal parties still can't get their head around it at all. Climate change is real, and we're feeling the impacts right now: more floods, more fires, more extreme heat and more violent storms. This is the reality for communities across Australia, yet the opposition are still in denial. Maybe they're too busy fighting themselves in some back room of parliament to step outside and actually see it. Whatever it is, they have their heads in the sand and we don't have time to wait for the tide to come in. As Rudd said, that would be reckless and irresponsible, and we must act now.

The government accepts the Climate Change Authority's recently published national climate risk assessment. Every action we take today towards our climate goal of net zero by 2050 can help avoid the worst impacts on Australians. Following the authority's advice, we've set an emissions reduction target of between 62 and 70 per cent by 2035. And emissions are coming down. Our most recent data shows that emissions fell by 6.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in the year to March 2025. This is a result of our work in slashing waiting times for renewable projects, incentivising home batteries and expanding clean fuel use. This is just the beginning, and we know there is much more work to be done. Our biggest sources of emissions are electricity, transport and industry, and we have a plan for each of them.

On electricity, we are upgrading our energy systems so that we can deliver more renewable energy from remote areas to our cities and towns. We have already added over 18 gigawatts of wind and solar to the grid by undertaking this task. These upgrades also help balance the variability of renewables, ensuring homes have reliable, clean power, no matter the weather. On industry, we've announced a new net zero stream in the National Reconstruction Fund. The $5 billion in this particular fund will help large industry decarbonise whilst helping renewable and low-emission manufacturers scale up.

On transport, we've expanded the use of electric vehicles, brought in a new vehicle efficiency standard and invested in more kerbside charging facilities. This is all on top of the work regular Australians are already doing, because they understand climate change and its risks as well. Around 1,000 batteries are being installed across the country every day, with home solar panel uptake being quite literally through the roof. So, as the motion says, the government is delivering on its promises, which Australians voted for this year, to act on climate change. Whether the opposition will leave the climate wars in the past—well, I'm not holding my breath.

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

I commend the member for Griffith for staying in the chamber at least for her matter of private members' business, but I do take umbrage with some of the issues taken up in this particular report. Let's just go through a few of the issues in the National Climate Risk Assessment, particularly as, when asked in Senate estimates, officials from the department actually said that cold deaths were out of the scope of investigation for the assessment. Now, heat deaths were considered, but cold deaths—and there are far more cold deaths than there are heat deaths—were not considered as part of this report.

United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell, who is considered quite an authority on climate action, said that, without more ambitious climate action, Australia could face megadroughts. But, wait for this, he said that this would make fresh fruit and vegetables a once-in-a-year treat. That is catastrophising. This particular report also said that once-in-a-century events would become once-in-a-fortnight events. That is just catastrophising. If our children are being taught that once-in-a-century events are going to become once-in-a-fortnight events, that is just unnecessarily alarmist.

I hear the member for Richmond say they could become so. It would not be once-in-a-century events becoming once-in-a-fortnight events, Member for Richmond. That is just alarmist. It is placing unnecessary pressure indeed on schoolchildren who are being taught this stuff. It's got to be put into balance. When we talk about climate action, the balance is certainly not being met between Binalong and Bowning in my electorate, where they want to put up 90 wind towers that are 260 metres high. In neighbouring Upper Lachlan Shire, there is even a green energy project where they are taking the subsidies and want to take the subsidies, but it's not even going to be connected to the grid. It's no wonder that these farmers and these residents are pushing back. It's no wonder. When ENGIE pulled back a project—I'll give this French owned company its due. That fact they actually withdrew the project was absolutely met with approval. It was going to be a solar factory right next door to Yass which was—wait for it—going to be bigger than Yass itself! Country communities can't keep carrying the can. They cannot, and they are being asked to because of reports such as this, which are only sending the energy costs for ordinary, everyday Australians through the roof. Reports such as this are dividing communities, because we've got largely foreign owned superannuation companies coming into regional Australia. They're dividing families, dividing generational friendships and pitting farmers against their next-door neighbours. It is just a bridge too far.

We then have the battery energy storage systems. They are going to carpet-bomb our electorates as well. You've got volunteer firefighters, who, as they say, are not equipped to deal with the toxicity of the flames from these battery energy storage systems and who are absolutely worried that, if these battery energy storage systems catch fire, they are going to be asked to go and put them out. We know that these fires always seem to start on Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve or whenever people should be rightly celebrating with family. These brave volunteers, many of whom are well beyond the age of 65, let me tell you—they're older, not younger—have given of their own and given selflessly for many, many years. They go out, attend crashes and the like and rescue people in country Australia. But why should they be expected to go out and put their own lives at risk when they are very worried—they are not trained or equipped to put out these flames from these fires, which could well have a large effect on their own wellbeing and their own health. This climate risk assessment might pay the energy minister's dues, where he is catastrophising and saying that country Australia can indeed have this reckless rollout of renewables. The fact is country people are pushing back, and rightly so. They've had enough of this nonsense, and it's going to cost this country trillions of dollars.

Gabriel Ng (Menzies, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the motion by the member for Griffith. I am proud to be part of a government that is taking real, ambitious action to address climate change. Those in the coalition are imploding about whether or not they believe in human driven climate change, let alone whether or not they want to do anything about it. Nine years of Coalition government—almost a decade of delay and denial. We accept the science, and we're committed to playing our part to address this global challenge and to seize the opportunity to be at the forefront of innovation and the renewable energy transition. Many of the residents of the electorate I'm fortunate to represent, Menzies, care deeply about climate change. They raise it when I'm doorknocking and they raise it when I'm making phone calls. They call my office. They send us emails—young people who are worried about their future; and parents and grandparents who are worried about the future for themselves, their children and their grandchildren. As a parent of young children, I share their concerns.

I've met multiple times with the climate groups that are active in my area—Menzies for Climate, Australian Conservation Foundation Community Eastern Rosellas, and Baby Boomers for Climate Change Action. In the case of Menzies for Climate, they were present throughout the election campaign. They ran a local candidates forum and handed out climate scorecards at every pre-poll. It will surprise no-one that we rated much better than the coalition. I appreciate the constructive and respectful way these groups have always engaged. We don't necessarily agree on everything, but we can agree on the necessity and urgency of climate action. The Albanese Labor government understands this also. That is why we have accepted the advice of the Climate Change Authority and set a 2035 emissions reduction target of 62 to 70 per cent. As required by the Climate Change Act 2022, the government must consider independent expert advice from the authority before setting a target. This ensures our decisions are grounded in science and reflect international best practice.

There will be some who say the target is too high. Again, those in the coalition are in a civil war over whether or not to abandon net zero. The Liberals and Nationals haven't learned anything from the election, haven't moved on from their three years in opposition and haven't moved on from nine years in government, when they had a ridiculous 20 climate policies—none of which were serious about reducing emissions.

There will also be some who say the target is too low. We know there are other bodies that suggest higher targets. Higher targets will always sound good to those who accept we're in a climate crisis. But our targets don't just consider where we need to get to; they consider how we're going to get there. As has been said before, they're ambitious and achievable. The authority has its own internal expertise but also relies on the expertise of bodies like the CSIRO and Treasury. Unlike those on the other side, this government does not ignore experts; we listen and we act.

We have a clear road map regarding how we will not just lower emissions but seize upon the opportunities the global energy transition presents to become a renewable energy superpower. Key to this is our continuing transition to an 82 per cent renewables energy grid by 2030. Since May 2022 we have added over 18 gigawatts of wind and solar to the grid—a 45 per cent increase since we came to government. Along with our climate targets we announced $2 billion for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to continue driving downward pressure on electricity prices and to help accelerate long-term renewables projects right across our nation.

Lowering transport emissions is another key part of our plan. We've introduced vehicle efficiency standards, provided incentives to increase uptake of electric vehicles and invested in more kerbside-charging facilities. To reach our targets we're committing a further $40 million for charging infrastructure across our suburbs and regions, and we'll invest $1.1 billion to boost Australia's clean energy fuel production. At a local level we're delivering $85 million to develop households and businesses improve energy performance, and we have our Cheaper Home Batteries Program, which has now installed more than 100,000 batteries nationwide. This is significant progress and it's popular with the residents of Menzies. I commend this motion to the chamber.

Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Griffith for the opportunity to speak to this important issue. Last month Australia's first National climate risk assessment report found that every aspect of our nation will be affected by climate change—the economy, food systems in communities, health, national security, transport, energy and, perhaps most of all, our natural environment.

We are already paying the cost of climate change. According to the Actuaries Institute, more than 1.6 million Australians are spending more than a month's income every year on insurance premiums. With even a moderate emissions reduction scenario, the cost of recovering from floods, bushfires, storm surges and tropical cyclones could be more than $40 billion every year within 25 years. Australian property values could decrease in value by over $600 billion by 2050. Lost labour productivity could reduce our economic output by hundreds of billions of dollars, and disruptions in global supply chains due to extreme weather events could affect import and export markets. Government budgets will be eroded by the loss of our tax base and by increased spending on disaster recovery and human welfare. The report's implicit message is that we need to cut our emissions faster and more effectively. In that context, the government's 2035 emissions reduction target of 62 to 70 per cent by 2030 is inadequate.

Australia has much to gain from the clean energy transition. Our world-class sun and wind resources can underpin new export industries and manufacturing in energy intensive commodities like iron and steel. Deloitte modelling found that, in a competitive global environment, a 65 per cent target is actually unlikely to drive the capital, innovation and jobs expenditure required for us to build those new export industries. It suggested that a more ambitious emissions reduction target of 75 per cent by 2035 could yield $227 billion in additional GDP over 10 years, growing to $490 billion within 25 years.

The Investor Group on Climate Change also found that Australia could lead in the global energy transition, but, without clear policy signals and adequate capital deployment, we risk being left behind. We risk missing out on huge economic opportunities.

It's clear that it's not going to be a straightforward transition. To date, we've already been focusing on the low-hanging fruit: rooftop solar and subsidies for large-scale renewable projects. But even that rollout is facing mounting obstacles: delays; rising costs; infrastructure bottlenecks; and localised opposition to the transition lines, which are required to connect new wind and new solar farms to the grid.

The uncertainty of sector pathways to net zero emission technologies in some hard-to-abate sectors adds another layer of challenge. We can argue about how to deal with those challenges, but what is beyond doubt is the need to urgently accelerate our climate action. While the transition to renewables is complex, any backward steps—whether they be weak climate targets, pauses in government support for renewable projects or the approval of new fossil fuel projects—all of these fly in the face of science, reason and our future prosperity.

Ambitious climate targets provide businesses with the clarity and the confidence to deploy the capital and workers we will need to actually make the net zero transition happen. They're also crucial to attracting international investment and talent. With nuclear being too slow, coal-fired power stations too unreliable and the cost of gas just too much, clear policy settings are critical to enable investment in renewable energy. Our 2035 climate targets matter not only to Australia but internationally as well. Countries can slow global warming only by working together. What we do here sends a clear signal to our trading partners and to our international peers.

Australia has more to lose than most countries from climate change but more to gain in leading the effort to combat it. The future for climate action is here. That means delivering more ambitious climate action now.

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

I rise proudly to support the motion moved by the member for Griffith. As a member of the Standing Committee on Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water, I know how critical this decade is. As the dad of two young boys, I know exactly who will live with the consequences if we fail to act.

We've accepted the independent advice of the Climate Change Authority and set a responsible, science-backed 2035 target to reduce emissions by 62 to 70 per cent below the 2005 levels. That is the right call, the call demanded by Australians who understand what is at stake, and who want us to seize the economic opportunities ahead of us.

Our government is grounded in reality. The national climate risk assessment spells it out. Climate change risks are cascading, compounded and concurrent. No community, not one, is immune. From heatwaves to coastal erosion, from bushfire threats to biodiversity loss, we are already seeing the impacts in Western Australia and across the country.

Treasury's modelling reinforces this message. If we delay, or we adopt a disorderly transition, our economy could be up to $2 trillion worse off by 2050. That's lower wages, higher power bills, fewer jobs—a profound failure to plan. The global shift to clean energy is the biggest economic transformation since the Industrial Revolution, and Australia is uniquely placed to win. We have the sun, the wind and the minerals to turn those natural advantages into prosperity. Our plan is to do exactly that.

I am a former electrician, so indulge me while I run through the technical numbers. Since May 2022 we've added over 18 gigawatts of wind and solar to the grid, a 45 per cent increase in capacity. That's enough to power six million homes. We've helped drive the installation of over 100,000 home batteries, helping households cut bills and strengthen our grid. We're backing renewables not only with storage but with firming capacity so that, when the wind drops or the sun sets, the supply keeps flowing and our families' bills don't spike. We are decarbonising transport with the first-ever New Vehicle Efficiency Standard. We're helping industry do the heavy lifting, including through the $5 billion Net Zero Fund and the strengthened Safeguard Mechanism. We are positioning Australia not just to reduce emissions but to export clean energy, clean technologies and clean jobs to the world. Crucially, we're adapting to existing climate impacts. That means investing in resilience, securing water supply, protecting critical infrastructure and supporting communities out on the front line.

This motion asks the opposition to join us, to leave the climate wars behind and to stop treating the future of our children like a factional football. It asks the opposition to recognise that leadership is not saying no loudly; it's building something better, because out in the real world—outside the echo chambers of the climate culture wars—Australians are getting on with it. In my electorate of Moore, we are blessed with natural environmental treasures: the Yellagonga wetlands, our magnificent coastline and the biodiversity of our local bushlands. The Friends of Yellagonga Regional Park dedicate countless volunteer hours to restoring our precious wetlands. Parents for Climate, including passionate advocates like Emma Coupland and Sonya Elek, organise locally because they understand that protecting the planet is about protecting our kids.

This motion does exactly what responsible parliamentarians should do: it listens to experts, aligns ambition with action and keeps Australia economically competitive. The alternative—we know it too well—is years of denial and delay and 23 energy policies from those opposite with zero actually delivered, and they're still talking about a $600 billion nuclear mirage. The Australian people rejected that approach at the last election. They want action now.

Climate change is the defining test of our generation. History will not forgive cowardice, nor will it reward complacency, but it will remember courage. It will remember those who chose to build, not block. For my boys and for the families of Moore and Griffith, and for families right across the country, we must get this right. I commend the motion.

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

We're hearing lectures about the climate wars. Labor wants to lecture us about the climate while congratulating themselves on what they're doing. Climate wars—Labor is actually waging war on the climate. Every time Labor opens a new coalmine, you wage war on the climate. Every time Labor opens a new gas project and every time Labor lets Santos pay no tax, you wage war on the climate. You are waging war on our planet's future.

So what is Labor's record on climate? Its record includes opening 30 new coal and gas mines in the last term of parliament; abandoning reforms under the previous environment minister, under pressure from big corporations; and, 15 days after being sworn in this term, approving an extension to Woodside's North West Shelf, the largest fossil fuel project in the Southern Hemisphere. It's a cruel joke to pretend that Labor is acting on climate. They're actively acting to make climate change worse. They're actively working to make climate disasters, bushfires, heatwaves and floods worse. They are gaslighting the Australian people who do want action on climate, who do want their homes to be safe—

Government Member:

A government member interjecting

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

Well, don't open new coalmines. You've abrogated that trust—who do want their homes to be safe from fires and floods, who don't want thousands of extra deaths in our cities from heatwaves and who do want to preserve our natural wonders like the Great Barrier Reef. This is what people want, so Labor are employing a deliberate strategy to gaslight the Australian people.

Here's Labor's strategy: what do we need to do to look like we're doing something about climate while protecting the interests of the coal and gas corporations? The government have an intentional strategy to lie to you about climate, Australians, to distract you from what they're actually doing. Labor wants you to focus on the coalition's implosion over net zero and away from the big coal and gas corporations pretty much screwing over everyday Australians while Labor does everything to protect them.

The Labor government doesn't want you to know that many huge mining corporations are not paying any corporate tax—zilch; zero. Labor doesn't want you to know that gas corporations are giving our offshore gas away for free and making massive profits but not paying any royalties. Labor really doesn't really want you to know that our fossil fuel exports contribute far more to climate change than domestic emissions—4.5 times more. That's the exports. Big coal and gas corporations love this focus on domestic emissions because it means you're not looking at them wrecking our climate and environment and making huge profits while they dodge taxes. And it's a Labor government who are protecting these corporations at your expense, Australians. Don't let them fool you.

Some conspiracy theories are actually real. Here's one you'll want to hear: big corporations really do control our government. And here's the story.

Labor promised environmental law reform—the truth hurts sometimes, doesn't it?—when they came into government in 2022. The Greens said we were happy to work with them—

this is what happened—to protect nature and the climate. We came to a deal with then environment minister Tanya Plibersek, but the mining industry—companies like Woodside, Santos and BHP—were not happy. They got on the phone to Western Australian premier Roger Cook—this is all fact—who then personally called the Prime Minister to tell him to kill the deal, and he did at the eleventh hour.

Then, under pressure from the same big corporations, in February this year—

Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You say it's fact, but then you don't have facts.

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

It was fact; we were told.

Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How do you know it's fact?

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

We were told—

Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You were told.

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

by the former environment minister, who had signed the letter. Let's continue. In February this year, the bill was withdrawn from parliament altogether. This is all fact.

Now, the new environment minister—one of the first things he did was fly to Perth to consult with mining companies on the new version of the laws, his No. 1 priority to speed up approvals so big corporations can wreck the environment even faster. BHP have said they welcome the 'strong signals' from the government. I'm sure they and the other mining companies are very happy they can keep making megaprofits and paying minimal tax and get their approvals fast tracked now without worrying about that pesky environment or the climate.

Debate adjourned.