Josh Wilson's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
Bondi Beach Attack Victims | Condolences | House debates
Above all else, I express my deepest condolence and sorrow. I bring to this place the heartfelt sympathy of the Fremantle electorate community for the victims, and for the families and friends of...
Above all else, I express my deepest condolence and sorrow. I bring to this place the heartfelt sympathy of the Fremantle electorate community for the victims, and for the families and friends of the victims, of the appalling terrorist attack at Bondi on 14 December last year. It was an attack that targeted Jewish Australians celebrating the first day of Hanukkah, an observance with the triumph of light over darkness as its theme and a tradition that, when practised here, occurs in the brightness of summer. Of course, it originates in the Northern Hemisphere, where it spans the winter solstice—the shortest day and the longest night—as the year turns from coldness and suffering towards warmth and renewal again. From that awful tragedy—from its cruelty, bigotry, madness and violence—Australia embarks on that difficult but necessary journey towards healing through grief and compassion, and towards the renewal of our core values through our unity of purpose. It is unimaginably tragic and against everything that Australia stands for that 87-year-old Alex Kleytman should survive the Holocaust and yet have his life ended by antisemitic violence at Bondi Beach. It is heroically wonderful and a personification of the Australian experience and character at its best that Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Syrian refugee, stood up to violent terrorism, taking a grave risk and being shot himself in order to save the lives of others. Earlier today there was a gathering co-hosted by the members for Kingsford-Smith and Wentworth to honour the contributions of the surf lifesaving community on that terrible day. The president of the Bondi surf club, Liz Webb, reminded us that there were 10 minutes of awful gunfire, but that, in every minute since that time, Australians have reached out to support the victims and their families, to support those injured and traumatised, and to support the broader Australian Jewish community. The fact that there has never been a method or a means, be it secular or divine, to eradicate the capacity for wickedness in humankind does not stop us from striving towards the greatest possible peacefulness, harmony, togetherness and shared wellbeing. That is what we're seeking to do here in this place this week, with parliament recalled so that we can begin taking steps that occur alongside an ongoing process of reflection and response. The motion for this debate is part of that. Through the resolute, tempered and deeply compassionate leadership of the Prime Minister, those steps in response began in the first hours after the tragedy at Bondi. To the extent that combating prejudice in the form of vile antisemitism is a vital part of our response, that work is being pursued on a focused and unprecedented basis by this government. The approach required to enhance safety and peacefulness in all our communities is guided by clear imperatives. We want to strive against the ignorance and intolerance that lead to prejudice and violence. We want to reduce and control access to the means by which wicked people can do harm to others. We want to identify and interdict those who show the rudiments of dangerous hate. Those three imperatives—against prejudice, against the dangerous proliferation of guns and against groups and individuals who are inclined towards hate and violence—are all necessarily cast in the negative. As Australians we overwhelmingly reject prejudice and violence. We are against those things, not, if we're honest with ourselves, from the purity of past conduct but rather from the pain of past experience—especially with respect to First Nations Australians—and happily, and more recently, from our cherished evolution as a remarkably cohesive, fair and peaceful multicultural nation of many ethnic and national threads and of people from a variety of religious or spiritual traditions, or from none. Yet, in truth, while we reject prejudice and we reject violence, our strongest defence against the worst human delusions and depravities is actually not the delineation of what we are against, but our practice and our promotion of what we are for, of the best in human qualities and the best in human character: kindness; peacefulness; sympathy; understanding; generosity; the courage to care for one another, even as strangers; and love. Like the irresistible Australian summer sunshine overcoming darkness, we saw those qualities at Bondi on 14 December. We have seen them every day since. And we must resolve to lean into those qualities in the days ahead.
Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025, Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
One of our first conversations was about your collection.
Competition and Consumer Amendment (Australian Energy Regulator Separation) Bill 2025; Third Reading | Bills | House debates
by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time.
Competition and Consumer Amendment (Australian Energy Regulator Separation) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
I thank honourable members for their contributions to the debate on the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Australian Energy Regulator Separation) Bill 2025. The bill seeks to establish a...
I thank honourable members for their contributions to the debate on the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Australian Energy Regulator Separation) Bill 2025. The bill seeks to establish a legally separate Australian Energy Regulator—the AER, as distinct from the ACCC—to provide greater management and financial autonomy for our energy regulator, enhancing its ability to manage resources and set its strategic direction. This will allow the AER to respond with agility to changing energy needs and focus with greater clarity on energy security, reliability and affordability for energy consumers. This reform will enhance Australia's energy market governance arrangements, contributing to a strong and independent energy regulator that will ensure energy consumers across Australia are better off for many years to come, and I commend this bill to the House. Question agreed to. Bill read a second time.
I present the explanatory memorandum to this bill and move: That this bill be now read a second time. This bill marks a significant step in our commitment to improve regulatory outcomes in the...
I present the explanatory memorandum to this bill and move: That this bill be now read a second time. This bill marks a significant step in our commitment to improve regulatory outcomes in the energy sector, by ensuring dedicated governance and accountability structures that are tailored specifically to energy market regulation. The intention of this bill is to amend the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 to separate the Australian Energy Regulator (the AER) from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (the ACCC), establishing the AER as a non-corporate Commonwealth entity with operational control of its staff, resources and governance arrangements. The AER is the independent regulator of wholesale and retail energy markets and energy networks, mainly across southern and eastern Australia, under national energy laws and rules. Its key activities include energy network regulation, compliance and enforcement, and the performance monitoring and reporting of energy wholesale and retail markets as well as network businesses. Taken together, that is an incredibly important function—as perfectly well expressed in the AER's purpose, which is 'to ensure energy consumers are better off, now and in the future'. The AER currently operates as a constituent part of the ACCC. Both organisations are a single Commonwealth entity for the purpose of the finance law. The AER shares staff, resources and facilities with the ACCC—and as a result, the AER board, which is responsible for regulatory functions, does not have direct control over resources and staff, which remain under the ACCC's authority. This proposed amendment to legally separate the AER from the ACCC will remove the governance risks that hinder the AER's ability to manage its increasing regulatory responsibilities effectively. It will enable the AER to operate effectively as an independent entity. The bill will not change the key elements of the Australian Energy Market Agreement—such as the role and function of the AER as the independent energy regulator, the composition of the AER's board, the requirement for the Commonwealth to fund the AER, and the administrative law arrangements whereby the decisions of the AER will continue to be subject to judicial review by the Federal Court. The national energy laws—which provide the AER with more detailed functions and obligations—will also remain unchanged. It has to be acknowledged that several independent reviews have recommended an autonomous AER. In 2015 the Review of Governance Arrangements for Australian Energy Markets, chaired by Dr Michael Vertigan, considered governance arrangements of the Australian energy markets and recommended that the AER should have full management and financial autonomy, which would most effectively be achieved by re-establishing the AER as a standalone regulatory body. The 2017 Independent Review into the Future Security of the National Electricity Market, led by Dr Alan Finkel, noted the AER's role is highly technical and sector specific, and that by constituting the AER as a separate energy agency we would be mirroring the structures of other energy market bodies and comparable energy regulators in similar countries. State and territory energy ministers have been consulted on the proposal, and, on 19 May 2023, agreed the AER should be established as a standalone Commonwealth entity. It would surprise no-one to observe that the AER's operational environment has evolved significantly since its establishment in 2005. As the energy market becomes more complex, and with the AER's regulatory functions expanding, the AER needs the authority to manage its own resources and to set its own strategic direction independently from the ACCC. The ambitious scale and pace of the energy transition requires the AER to operate with greater financial and operational autonomy. A distinctly separate AER will provide for greater management and financial autonomy, contributing to the overall effectiveness of the AER as Australia's energy regulator. Creating a standalone AER will formalise its governance responsibilities, including for managing its budget, human resources and risk oversight. This change will allow the AER to better align its internal operations with its regulatory mandate and strategic goals. This is essential for effectively managing the energy transition, overseeing wholesale and retail markets, and addressing issues like energy affordability and network regulation. In other words, this change will make sure the AER is better placed to do what we need it to do in the best interests of the Australian community. The bill supports the broader energy policy of the government, enabled through the National Energy Transformation Partnership, a framework for Commonwealth, state and territory governments to work together on reforms to help transform Australia's energy system to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. One of the priority themes of the framework is strengthening energy governance architecture. The bill is a necessary and forward-looking reform that helps achieve this priority theme. The government is committed to delivering affordable, reliable, and clean energy for all Australians, and the reforms contained in this bill will help make that vision a reality.
Housing, Renewable Energy | Constituency Statements | House debates
The Albanese government is delivering the largest investment in new affordable housing since the postwar housing boom. As part of that work, we're supporting priority social and community housing...
The Albanese government is delivering the largest investment in new affordable housing since the postwar housing boom. As part of that work, we're supporting priority social and community housing projects across Fremantle, East Fremantle and Cockburn, in my electorate, through the Social Housing Accelerator. That includes projects in White Gum Valley, Treeby, Hamilton Hill, Fremantle, North Coogee, and Coolbellup. This new housing is being complemented by a number of other key measures. For example, we've increased Commonwealth rent assistance by more than 40 per cent, we've introduced a new Commonwealth shared-equity scheme and we've provided strong incentives through the build-to-rent program and the expanded five per cent home deposit scheme for first home buyers, which will save thousands of dollars for those seeking to buy a new home. We know the availability of affordable housing has reached crisis levels, and that's why we've provided $43 billion in record funding across a range of programs to deliver more dedicated social and community housing and more support for renters and first home buyers. The Albanese Labor government knows that household solar energy and battery storage is also making a big difference to Australia's clean energy transition, and we're leading that transition because it represents Australia's strongest and most sustainable future. We've already seen a 45 per cent increase in renewable energy generation since the election of the Albanese government, and of course about half of Australia's renewable energy actually now comes from home solar. At the beginning of the Rudd Labor government, back in 2007, only one in 1,000 homes had solar PV. But, thanks to the sustained effort of two Labor governments, now one in three Australian homes benefit from home solar, and in WA it is two in five homes. Australia has become the world leader in distributed solar energy, and now we're working to make sure that generation is matched with battery storage so we can get the maximum benefit from our abundant sunshine. Our Cheaper Home Batteries Program has already seen more than 40,000 batteries installed, and there are nearly 10,000 registrations under the WA government's battery rebate scheme, which operates alongside our 30 per cent subsidy. The other day I was rapt to deliver on an election commitment to provide a community battery in Coogee, in my electorate. It is one of five new community batteries in WA, adding to the 13 that have already been installed. In March I was glad to join the minister for energy in announcing four new big batteries that will come online by 2027 to serve Perth and the south-west. That careful planning and investment, working with the Cook WA Labor government, has made WA the leading large battery jurisdiction in Australia and will support Western Australia becoming the first state to move out of coal-fired power generation. That work is key to reducing emissions as we tackle dangerous climate change and key to creating a cheaper, cleaner and more self-sufficient energy system as Australia achieves our potential to be a renewable energy superpower.
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Board of Management Functions) Bill 2025; Third Reading | Bills | House debates
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Board of Management Functions) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
I thank all members who have contributed to this debate. The government is committed to providing traditional owners with greater control over the management of their country. This Environment...
I thank all members who have contributed to this debate. The government is committed to providing traditional owners with greater control over the management of their country. This Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Board of Management Functions) Bill 2025 will contribute to that goal. It will allow the boards of management of jointly managed Commonwealth reserves to continue making decisions after a management plan expires, provided those decisions are consistent with the plan. This would maintain the board's decision-making ability until the new management plan comes into effect. This bill supports participation by traditional owners in matters relating to the management of their country, continuity of decision-making and consistency of governance arrangements for Commonwealth reserve management. In relation to the second reading amendment moved by the member for Ryan, the government won't be supporting the motion. This bill is a standalone and time critical to the EPBC Act. It's unconnected to broader reforms being progressed separately at this time. The government is committed to delivering environmental and cultural heritage law reforms in this term of government. The Minister for the Environment and Water is working in partnership with the First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance and consulting with First Nations stakeholders, conservation and environmental organisations and industry. I thank the members for their contribution and commend the bill to the House.
I move: That this bill be now read a second time. First Nations people have been looking after country for tens of thousands of years. They have an enduring connection to the land, sea and sky....
I move: That this bill be now read a second time. First Nations people have been looking after country for tens of thousands of years. They have an enduring connection to the land, sea and sky. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have cared for country and been a significant part of shaping the environment and supporting the remarkable, unique biodiversity we experience in Australia today. Their knowledge, connection to place and cultural practices have contributed to the positive environmental outcomes that benefit all Australians. Our jointly managed Commonwealth reserves—Kakadu National Park, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and Booderee National Park—are located on Aboriginal land. The traditional owners of that land are actively involved in the protection of the environment through participation in the management of their land—spaces which both sustain and share the experience of Australia's biodiversity and cultural landscapes. These reserves are managed by the Director of National Parks under a lease with Indigenous people and through a board of management with majority traditional owner representation. Each of the boards of management is currently chaired by a traditional owner. These boards are responsible for making decisions about the management of Commonwealth reserves. However, their ability to make decisions stops when a management plan expires. If that occurs, the role of traditional owners in the decision-making processes is removed, reducing that critical involvement in the management of their land. This bill will address and overcome this limitation through a minor technical amendment to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The bill will allow the board to continue making decisions after a management plan expires, provided those decisions are consistent with the expired management plan, just as they would have been consistent with the management plan while it was afoot. This is a sensible change that will maintain the board's decision-making ability until a new management plan comes into effect. This bill is being introduced to parliament ahead of the broader reforms to the EPBC Act to ensure the critical functioning of the board and the voices of traditional owners in the management of their land is maintained while we're working to deliver the broader reforms that are required to ensure we have a fit-for-purpose national environmental protection framework. This is a step towards delivering the government's commitment for more traditional owner control over the management of country, and it is consistent with the recommendations of the independent review of the EPBC Act that were provided to but never acted upon by the coalition government. Debate adjourned.
Address-in-Reply | Governor-General's Speech | House debates
It is near Cockburn, Member for Bruce. We delivered that battery. It's one of five new community batteries in WA, adding to the 13 that are already there. It's, obviously, one of 400 that we're...
It is near Cockburn, Member for Bruce. We delivered that battery. It's one of five new community batteries in WA, adding to the 13 that are already there. It's, obviously, one of 400 that we're delivering nationwide through the $200 million community batteries program. We've made such great strides when it comes to the delivery of renewable energy. As I said, we've already increased it by more than 45 per cent just in the three-and-a-bit years since this government was elected. But we need storage to match. We are leaving no stone unturned when it comes to increasing the ability of Australian households and Australian businesses—and our system as a whole—to soak up that abundant and, at certain times of the day, virtually free solar energy and then to reuse it at peak times to bring system costs down and reduce prices for households. As I conclude this speech, I want to pay respect to the tens of thousands of Australians Australia-wide who got out on the weekend and showed support for the people who have been suffering in Gaza, showed support for peace and showed their commitment to nonviolence, as we witness the humanitarian catastrophe that has been occurring in the Middle East. I'm glad to be part of a government that, from the beginning, rejected the violence that began on October 7 with that barbaric attack but has also rejected the unnecessary conduct that has resulted in the death of more than 60,000 civilians in Gaza, most of whom are women and children, and the unnecessary, unconscionable, intolerable, unacceptable suffering that's occurred through the deprivation of humanitarian aid from earlier this year. In relation to that conflict, the Australian government will do what we've done in the past. It's true to our values. It's true to our national character. We've done the same thing in relation to the violence and dispossession experienced by the Rohingya in Myanmar and in relation to the illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine, and that is to say that violence is a terrible form of human conduct. It should be resisted as much as we can possibly resist it. We are a nation that is defined by our commitment to peace, our compassion for one another and our compassion for our sisters and brothers all over the world. I'm grateful that people in my community, as well as right around Australia, take their democratic opportunity to express their commitment to peace and nonviolence and their desire to see peace, justice and self-determination for the Palestinian people. That's something that we want to advance in a concerted fashion with like-minded countries like France, Canada and the UK by recognising a State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September. All of our work that the Prime Minister has led and the Minister for Foreign Affairs has undertaken is devoted to trying to see peace in the Middle East as soon as possible and an end to that terrible conflict. Debate interrupted.
I'm glad, grateful and humbled to be able to continue my work as the member for Fremantle in this place, and to continue my work as a member of the Albanese government; it is resolute in its...
I'm glad, grateful and humbled to be able to continue my work as the member for Fremantle in this place, and to continue my work as a member of the Albanese government; it is resolute in its focus on working with the broader Australian community to make Australia a fairer and more sustainable nation. I do that by bringing my Fremantle values to that work. Those are things that my community has been part of working towards for a long period of time. My community has a commitment to the things that we share. They are the most important things. They include fair working conditions and the social safety net. They include proper protection for our environment. They include public goods, like health and education and like community infrastructure—all of the things that we share and that we have a responsibility to protect, maintain and advance together. The Albanese government has wasted no time in picking up that work again with the strong endorsement of the Australian people. From the very first sittings of this parliament, we acted quickly to reduce by 20 per cent the debt owed by people who have studied at university or at TAFE through HECS. We moved very quickly to legislate penalty rates so that working people are properly compensated when they're asked to work at times that we otherwise get to spend with our families or we get to spend in our community. We moved quickly to reduce the maximum price of medicines on the PBS. The PBS, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, is one of the great Labor reforms, one of the great foundational building blocks of our shared wellbeing. We have moved to bring the maximum price of medicines on the PBS back to $25, a level that was last experienced in 2004. We have done those things because of our enduring commitment to positive change, because of our enduring commitment to social equality and social inclusion, because of the work of antidiscrimination and the work of environmental protection. Minister Murray Watt, the Minister for the Environment and Water, has started his work on ensuring that we deliver an effective national environmental protection framework. The independent reviewer made clear to the previous government years ago that the national environmental framework, the EPBC Act, was not fit for purpose, was not doing its job and was, unfortunately, really managing a steady trajectory of decline. We don't accept that. We are going to do what the previous government didn't have the resolve or the courage or the responsibility to do. We are going to implement those reforms. We're going to continue the work that we began the Albanese government focusing on with respect to climate change and energy. Of course, Australians know and support the fact that, when they elected the Albanese government in 2022, they closed the door on nine years of neglect. They closed the door on nine years of inaction and internal conflict that failed to produce a national energy policy, that saw a reduction of one gigawatt of energy generation in the system as a whole, that saw a completely abject failure when it came to emissions reduction. We have already seen an increase of more than 40 per cent in Australia's renewable energy. We have crossed the 45 per cent mark in terms of renewable energy in our grid. We have increased Australia's commitment to reducing emissions by more than 60 per cent. We're on track to achieve that. We're on track to deliver 82 per cent of renewables by 2030. We are making a really significant investment in Australia's future manufacturing potential because, in addition to our opportunity to become a renewable energy superpower, we have the opportunity to be a clean industry powerhouse. If you ever are fortunate to be in any other part of the region, whether that's Japan, Korea, Indonesia or Singapore, they marvel at the incredible potential that Australia has to benefit from renewable energy and clean energy technology and then to parlay that into 21st-century industrial strength that is based around green metals, green hydrogen, low-carbon liquid fuels and so on. We are going to make sure that we help secure that for future Australian generations. Minister Bowen is leading that work through the safeguard mechanism, the Capacity Investment Scheme, Rewiring Australia, Australia's first National Electric Vehicle Strategy, Australia's first National Energy Performance Strategy and the programs that support that. We know that there is an issue when it comes to housing. Housing is a human right. Housing is the basis of a safe and secure life from which people can pursue education, work and involvement in their community. For too long, affordable, safe and accessible housing has become harder and harder for young Australians and Australians facing disadvantage, and we're not going to tolerate that. We're making the biggest investment in affordable housing since the housing boom post World War II, with $42 billion worth of programs. Since the election, I've been fortunate to be able to make a couple of announcements in my electorate from the social housing accelerator, where we're partnering with states and territories to get new, affordable community housing into the system as soon as we can. I was fortunate to be at the launch of a community battery in Coogee that I promised, with the Prime Minister, some time ago. We had a bit of a disagreement about the pronunciation of Coogee—
Environment | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
Deputy Speaker, what the member for Moncrieff said is untrue. They never introduced any legislation to deliver reforms of the EPBC Act. They never introduced that legislation. For the shadow...
Deputy Speaker, what the member for Moncrieff said is untrue. They never introduced any legislation to deliver reforms of the EPBC Act. They never introduced that legislation. For the shadow minister for the environment to suggest that they did and that we blocked it is not just collective amnesia. It's not just the Men in Black mind-cleansing device. It is an untruth. They didn't do anything when Graeme Samuel gave them the blueprint to reform our failed national environmental protection framework. We will not make that mistake. We will not neglect our obligation to the Australian people. We will not fail to be the proper stewards of Australia's remarkable environmental condition and biodiversity. We will do the job you never had the courage or strength or resolve to do as a priority of the work of the Albanese Labor government.
That's rubbish, Angie! You never introduced anything, and you know that. You introduced—
Deputy Speaker Claydon, congratulations on your return to that role. It's good to be back in the first week of a new parliament. We come to the new parliament with a hope, on behalf of the...
Deputy Speaker Claydon, congratulations on your return to that role. It's good to be back in the first week of a new parliament. We come to the new parliament with a hope, on behalf of the Australian community, that all of us return here with a commitment to work with a sense of shared purpose, and there's no more important area for us to apply that shared purpose than the protection of our environment and action on climate change. I waited for 10 minutes to hear a commitment from the shadow minister to reforming Australia's national environmental protection framework. I waited for 10 minutes to hear the shadow minister say anything about their commitment to taking action on climate change and their commitment to net zero—and we know that, all week, parts of the coalition have been tearing themselves apart in a desperate attempt to throw that commitment into the bin. But we got 10 minutes of nothing. I was glad to hear that the shadow minister for the environment is concerned about the algal bloom in South Australia. That's a concern that is entirely shared by the Australian government. That's why the Minister for the Environment and Water went there as a priority. That's why we've already committed $14 million; that's been matched by the South Australian government. It follows the $25 million we invested, in the previous term, in science that is specifically dedicated to the restoration of environmental conditions in the Great Southern Reef, and the $5½ million we committed through the National Environmental Science Program. We know that that algal bloom is influenced by climate change. We are a government that takes climate change seriously. We are a government that increased Australia's emission reduction commitment by more than 50 per cent the very instant we were elected in 2022. One of the first things we did in the new parliament in 2022 was to legislate net zero by 2050. The coalition are on the verge of abandoning their grudging commitment to net zero as we speak; they are going up into the Sky studios and tearing each other apart as they try to find ways to abandon climate change action and return to their natural condition, which is climate denialism. Nothing would be more dangerous for Australia than for that to occur. It is a core responsibility of the Australian government to protect and conserve Australia's unbelievably precious environmental condition and biodiversity. We are, all of us, and especially everyone in this place, the stewards of a remarkably diverse continent nation with one of the largest ocean domains of all countries—a landscape and seascape that's home to ecosystems and species that are present nowhere else on planet Earth. The responsibility to protect our environment is an obligation to the proper care and good stewardship of country and the biodiversity that it sustains for its own sake on its own terms. But it's also an obligation to ourselves because there's no way that our human communities can be healthy and safe, and there's no way that we can maintain and advance our own shared wellbeing, separate from a healthy environment and a healthy climate. That's why it has been an article of faith for this Labor government to pick up from a period of extreme and extraordinary neglect by focusing on environmental restoration and conservation and by focusing on climate action. It is abysmal that on this topic, of all topics, there should be no capacity for honesty or self-reflection from the shadow minister for the environment about their record. But, because I know the Australian community are sick of us going along with that kind of pointless aggression and sick of that kind of self-imposed amnesia just for the sake of trying to score political points, I'm going to talk about the positive; I'm going to actually talk about our program and our record. I could spend another 10 minutes, if I had another 10 minutes, detailing the abysmal failure of those opposite over nine long years, but I'm going to talk about our record. We began, after our election in 2022, by reforming the EPBC Act. We strengthened and expanded the water trigger. We brought legislation in here to introduce an independent EPA; it was a reform that was blocked by those opposite and the Greens. We provided $550 million to better protect threatened species and animals. We provided $200 million for improvements to creeks and waterways around this country through the Urban Rivers and Catchments Program. We invested $1.3 billion to double the size of the Indigenous Rangers Program, an extraordinarily successful program both in protecting country and lifting up the wellbeing of First Nations communities. We provided $230 million for 12 new Indigenous protected areas; that covers country the size of Tasmania. We stopped uranium mining in Jabiluka; instead, we added Jabiluka to Kakadu National Park. We doubled funding to look after our national parks, including Uluru and Kakadu. And, as the party that created the national network of marine protected areas when we were last in government, we came to government with a clear resolve and a focus to take that work further because we know how important our ocean environment is, whether it's off Queensland or Ningaloo and Exmouth Gulf in Western Australia—or in South Australia, as has been discussed today. That's why in 2023 we tripled the size of the Macquarie Island Marine Park. It was the largest act of ocean conservation in the world in the calendar year 2023. And then, in 2024, we quadrupled the size of the Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve. That was the largest act of marine conservation anywhere in the world in the calendar year 2024. Australia now protects 52 per cent of our ocean domain. We have one of the largest EEZs in the world. We are responsible stewards of one of the largest areas of ocean territory in the world, and we now protect 52 per cent of our ocean domain. That is better than any other country on the planet. We should be proud of that. We are proud of that. But we know there is more work to be done. That's why we wholeheartedly support the ratification of the new treaty to protect the high seas. That's why the Minister for the Environment and Water continues to look at new programs to support our seascape, our coastal and estuarine environments and our terrestrial environment. But we can't allow those opposite to come in here in the first week with that pointless aggression, that self-imposed amnesia, that 'Let's treat the Australian community to a little bit of the Men in Black mind-cleansing device,' because that would be irresponsible. People need to know what the Australian government is doing on their behalf as stewards of our environment. It's the expectation the community has; it's an expectation that we will deliver upon. But they cannot be allowed to forget what happened under nine years from those opposite. Forty per cent was cut out of the department of the environment. You cut funds to the CSIRO. You presided over an approval and compliance process that resulted in nearly 80 per cent of all approved activities failing to meet the conditions of their approval. You ran a threatened species strategy with 20 target mammal species where the trajectory of 12 of those species declined. For the eight species where there was an improvement in the trajectory, four of them had an improvement in the trajectory only to the extent that they declined less quickly. Sixteen of your targeted species actually declined in population under the strategy that you didn't properly apply and you didn't properly resource. You utterly ignored the Graeme Samuel review, which you commissioned. You asked Graeme Samuel to tell you what needed to happen with our national environmental protection framework, and he told you. He said: 'It's failing. It is presiding over a trajectory of decline. You need to fix it. You need to introduce proper compliance and controls. You need to improve the standards.' What did you do? Nothing. You did nothing for nine years. You hid—
Rearrangement | Business | House debates
WILSON (—) (): I move: That business intervening before order of the day No. 5, government business, be postponed until the next sitting. Question agreed to.
Competition and Consumer Amendment (Australian Energy Regulator Separation) Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
I thank honourable members for their contributions to the debate on the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Australian Energy Regulator Separation) Bill 2024. The bill seeks to establish a...
I thank honourable members for their contributions to the debate on the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Australian Energy Regulator Separation) Bill 2024. The bill seeks to establish a legally separate Australian Energy Regulator, the AER, as distinct from the ACCC to provide greater management and financial autonomy for our energy regulator, enhancing its ability to manage resources and set its strategic direction. This will allow the AER to respond with agility to changing energy consumer needs and to focus with greater clarity on energy security, reliability and affordability for energy consumers. It's a reform that was supported by three separate ministerial council processes or inquiries during the time of the previous three-term, nine-year coalition government. It's an utterly sensible reform that the previous government didn't manage to deliver. As I say, what it will mean is that the AER can do an even better job when it comes to delivering energy security, reliability and affordability for energy consumers. To pick up on the contribution to the debate made by the member for New England, the member took the opportunity to range widely on a whole series of aspects of—I don't really know what, to be honest—energy, perhaps, to some degree, the economy more broadly and various other things. It is hard to hear someone talk about the dignity of human beings when they were a member of a government that inflicted robodebt on the poorest and most vulnerable Australians and when they were part of a government that led to the share of income for ordinary working Australians falling to the lowest level in Australian history, and they now propose to inflict the most expensive form of energy on all Australians, paid for entirely by taxpayers, in a way that will put serious imposts on precisely the people that the member for New England claims to represent. It is a bit hard to hear that lecture. The reform we're making with this bill, which was recommended, as I said, by three separate ministerial council processes to the previous government, will enhance Australia's energy market governance arrangements, allowing the AER to be responsible for its own resources and administrative arrangements and contributing to a strong and independent energy regulator that will ensure energy consumers across Australia are better off for many years to come. It will literally make sure that Australian energy consumers have cheaper, more reliable and more affordable energy. On that basis, I commend this bill to the House.
Competition and Consumer Amendment (Australian Energy Regulator Separation) Bill 2024; Third Reading | Bills | House debates
Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
I'm glad to speak on the Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024 and to follow such a great contribution from my friend, the member for Macnamara, and before him the members for Bruce and...
I'm glad to speak on the Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024 and to follow such a great contribution from my friend, the member for Macnamara, and before him the members for Bruce and Spence. As the member for Macnamara said—I think quite rightly—none of us, as legislators, particularly want to spend time focused on legislation like this, because legislation like this is responding to something that we don't want to see in Australia. We don't want to see division. We don't want to see discrimination and bigotry. And we certainly don't want to see the things that can flow from that way of thinking and that kind of behaviour, which is violence and making people fear violence. That's unacceptable. At the outset, I'd make the point—I think it's an obvious point—that the greatest protection against violence and other hateful conduct that can flow from particular kinds of extreme bigotry and prejudice will not be legislative. The greatest protection will be cultural. The greatest protection is all of us working all the time—every member of the community—to foster, build, maintain and enhance the qualities that have generally prevailed in Australia: tolerance, inclusion, multicultural acceptance and diversity, care for one another and care for broader, shared wellbeing. Those cultural elements and values of Australia are the most potent protections against discrimination and bigotry and the things that flow from them. But we nevertheless need protections—legislative and through law enforcement, which is Australia's capacity to follow and enforce those legislative precepts—to guarantee the safety of the community and, in some ways, to reinforce what I said about the importance of culture to set those normative standards. What this bill does is take those standards and that capacity for law enforcement to provide further protection in response to the circumstances that have arisen in recent times. Those circumstances have been extremely concerning. As almost everyone who has contributed to this debate has acknowledged, no-one in Australia should face the fear of violence or be on the receiving end of other kinds of hateful conduct because of their race, religion, nationality or national ethnic origin, political opinion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status or disability. Nobody should face the most harmful and extreme kinds of discrimination because of their identity, because of who they are. When we see examples of hateful conduct and violence that has antisemitism at its root cause, we should be gravely concerned. Antisemitism is one of the oldest and most harmful kinds of prejudice that human beings have ever fallen prey to. We've seen that in this country and we've seen it more particularly elsewhere, particularly in the 20th century in the form of the Holocaust. We need to be mindful that that kind of discrimination will never entirely disappear, and when it manifests, when it appears, we need to be clear-eyed about it and respond to it. Jewish people in Australia should not feel unsafe or threatened—and nor should anyone—as a result of their membership of a group defined by all those characteristics I just mentioned. If we are genuine in this place, and if we are genuine in our roles as representatives and, frankly, as community leaders, we have to make sure that our conduct and our words are consistent with what I said about that broader cultural peace when it comes to peacefulness, non-violence, social inclusion and tolerance. That hasn't always been the case. It concerns me that, when the events on October 7 commenced—the terrible conflict in the Middle East that went on far too long and harmed far too many people unnecessarily—at the outset of that conflict, when people stood up and called for restraint there were other people, including other people in this place, who said that calling for restraint was wrong. As if there can ever be a time when someone speaking up against violence and someone speaking up for a greater and faster move towards a cessation of violence and a return to peacefulness—as if there can ever be a wrong time for that sentiment to be expressed. While we make these new strengthened arrangements, which are entirely consistent with the approach the government's taken—we have been moving very quickly to provide funding for social cohesion, to make sure that places of worship are properly protected, to create the envoys on antisemitism and Islamophobia, to bring in the legislation that we did earlier in the parliament in relation to hate symbology, which was a first, and now to bring along these further strengthened measures—we should remember that what we are trying to combat in general terms is not new. We should remember that we've seen at various times in Australia's history conduct that is similarly hateful and similarly prejudicial. I think that, as we deal with this particular issue, it pays to reflect on other kinds of discrimination that have been present and continue to be present, and to make sure that we're going to be consistent about those things. The reality is that we have seen violence and relatively large-scale social unrest in this country in this century focused on people because of their faith or their national identity; the Cronulla riots in 2005 come to mind. This was an instance where we saw wide-scale violence and wide-scale hateful targeting of people based on the perception that they were from the Middle East or that they might be of the Islamic faith. As far as I can recall—and if someone has another example, they can make that part of the debate—that would be the most serious kind of prejudicially based violence and civil disorder we've seen in the 21st century. At the time there were people who didn't think that was a particular problem. I think Prime Minister Howard said at the time that he didn't think that there was any reason to be concerned about the racialism and the prejudice that was involved in those terrible events. As we bring in an arrangement that will make sure that hatefulness, the advocacy of violence and the threatening of violence through prejudicial hatefulness against people for a range of general characteristics—race, religion, nationality, political opinion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and so on—I think it's worth remembering and having the courage to be honest enough with ourselves to acknowledge that the most harmful form of that in Australia's history is prejudice against First Nations people. There's just no question whatsoever that the history of Australia involves more harm, violence and hateful conduct towards First Nations people than towards any other group. We should be able to be honest about that and apply ourselves to making sure that that kind of prejudice is called out and combatted at every opportunity. While I support moves to strengthen the ability of law enforcement to combat the most dangerous form of bigotry—bigotry that leads to violence or threats of violence towards people based on their identity—I acknowledge that we should always make these kinds of changes carefully. When responding, as we should, to discrimination and hateful conduct, there will always be a risk that, in seeking to combat a particular problem, we create other issues. It goes to the point that my friend the member for Bruce was making earlier about the balance of things like freedom of speech on the one hand and people's right to live free from fear on the other hand. It's perhaps easy in these circumstances for everyone to lean in to the part of this kind of undertaking that is about stopping kinds of conduct and enabling law enforcement to focus on people who present harm. But I think it's responsible to remember that what is almost always involved in these kinds of measures has the potential to infringe on other freedoms that we regard, rightly, as being very precious. We have had laws in the past that were, for instance, around the threat of terrorism, and it's quite right that we took those measures. But when we did them, we often said, 'This is starting to move the line when it comes to people's right to have access to legal advice or to not be searched without a warrant,' and a whole range of other things that are core to our civil liberties and core to the basic freedoms that we have in Australia. We should transgress into those areas very, very cautiously and give ourselves the opportunity to look carefully at how they work in operation. We obviously want them to be effective when it comes to combating hatefulness, the risk of violence and the application of that kind of prejudice. But, if we find that there are these other consequences with respect to people's freedoms and civil liberties, we should reflect and make adjustments as appropriate. That's why, often when we've made these changes, there've been aspects that have involved a review. There've been aspects that have given us the chance, as a parliament and as a community, to say, 'Is that, first and foremost, doing the job that we need it to do to protect Australians from hatefulness, violence and prejudice, but, on the other hand, are there aspects of it that are, in an unhelpful way, starting to transgress on other important freedoms and liberties that are core to what it means to be an Australian?' Fundamentally, at a difficult time, when the temperature is high as far as division, a lack of cohesion and a sense that there's this febrile atmosphere that puts people under threat and at risk—particularly, recently, members of the Jewish community but not just members of the Jewish community—it's right that government and parliament take responsible action. As I said, we have done that in a very timely and responsive way at every opportunity over the last 18 months, and we're doing that again now. There have been people who have been part of this conversation who I think, frankly, at times have not been so much focused on the reality of the problem and the reality of the solution but have, sadly, sought to fan the flames of division, turn up the heat and create a more febrile atmosphere and a sense of argy-bargy, including political argy-bargy, because they think that that suits them. They think it suits them to create that sense of 'us and them', that sense of chaos. I hope that people who have engaged in that or might engage in that in the future reflect carefully because the truth is that, when there is a lot of intemperate, divisive, extreme, aggressive, adversarial language, accusations and behaviour thrown around, it actually produces exactly the kind of thing that we're trying to stop. It's incumbent on everyone who is a representative, a legislator and a leader in the community to practise peacefulness, tolerance, cohesion, engagement and civil respect. The more that we see that, the less we will need these kinds of changes.
Climate Change | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
The Albanese government is delivering the action that Australians rightly expect when it comes to dangerous climate change. It was one of the biggest reasons for the election of the Albanese...
The Albanese government is delivering the action that Australians rightly expect when it comes to dangerous climate change. It was one of the biggest reasons for the election of the Albanese government and of this parliament in its entirety back in 2022, and responding to that justified expectation was literally the first work that this government got underway with in the second half of 2022. We straightaway increased Australia's commitment under the Paris climate agreement by more than 50 per cent. We had laboured along in this country for years with a pathetic reduction target of 26 to 28 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030. It wasn't informed by the science. The very first thing we did was increase that commitment by more than 50 per cent, with only five or six years to go. We legislated net zero by 2050. We set an ambitious target to achieve 82 per cent renewables by 2030, and we are on track. The member for Brisbane mentioned that we have reached 42 per cent renewables in Australia's grid. What he didn't mention, of course, is that we've only reached that by increasing renewable energy generation by 25 per cent in the first two and a bit years of this government. In support of all of the measures that we took and that the Australian community rightly expects this government to do in tackling dangerous climate change—which is in the best interests of Australians and is an example of Australia at its best, as we work cooperatively with the global community and with our Pacific family—we have put in place all of the different measures that are required to get us to net zero by 2050 and to get us to that 43 per cent reduction target by 2030. We have introduced the Rewiring the Nation program, with $20 billion to make sure that our grid can accommodate all of that renewable and new storage. We have invested in the Capacity Investment Scheme, which will add 32 gigawatts of renewable energy and storage by 2030 to get to that 82 per cent target. We have a community battery program that's being rolled out around the country. We have the Solar Sunshot program, the Hydrogen Headstart program and the first ever National Electric Vehicle Strategy this country has ever had, making sure that our vehicles are cleaner and cheaper to run and that we reduce pollution in addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The first ever National Energy Performance Strategy was released only in April of this year, with $1.7 billion of supportive programs to help households, local governments and small and medium enterprises, with a special focus on housing improvements. And, in making sure that the entire Australian economy, particularly large emitters, do their work to get us to our 2030 target and to net zero by 2050, of course we reformed the safeguard mechanism, which had operated utterly hopelessly under those opposite, who essentially set benchmarks that increased the headroom for all of those large emitters so that they were effectively under no obligation to reduce their emissions. We changed that. Also, the Minister for the Environment and Water moved quickly to reform the EPBC Act with an expanded and strengthened water trigger. That means that the 200 largest emitters among Australian companies need to be really serious about achieving the emissions reduction that we need—effectively five per cent year on year from those 200 large emitters. That is already beginning to have effect. The Minister for Climate Change and Energy will deliver the third Annual Climate Change Statement tomorrow. That's yet another reform that we made in coming to government, to ensure that there is visibility, transparency and accountability for the Australian community so they can look at this parliament and this government and say, 'We have an expectation that a sensible, responsible, focused and reformist Australian Labor government will take on the biggest challenge that we have before us: responding to dangerous climate change and making sure that this country actually derives all of the very significant benefits that lie before us through the global energy transformation that is occurring, because of the comparative advantages that we have.' As the member for Brisbane said, we have the best wind and solar resources in the world—a continent-sized nation with parts of the renewable energy spectrum that we have yet to tap. Under this government, for the first time, we have offshore wind zones, which the coalition never explored. That gives us an opportunity to spread the diurnal range in which renewable energy is supplied, building on the large-scale and household solar that's already delivered. Added to that is hydropower, new pumped hydro, concentrated solar, battery technology and green hydrogen—all of those things that we are very well placed to take advantage of, because of the size of the continent, because of the renewable energy resources, because we've got a skilled and educated workforce, because we have a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship right through our economy. That is the work that this government has done. Already, in just a bit more than two years, the change that Australia voted for, the change that Australians want to see—particularly young Australians—is becoming real, including an increase in renewable energy generation of 25 per cent. We are on track to achieve our 43 per cent emissions reduction target by 2030. The minister for energy noted today that in the week before last we crossed the four-million-household mark, in terms of installed solar PV capacity. We have become the highest penetration solar PV nation in the world. That started with the former Labor government. When we came to government in 2007, there were only 12,000 households that had solar PV—effectively one in a thousand—and now it is one in three. In my home state of Western Australia it is two in five. That is what started under the Rudd-Gillard government. That is what is continuing under the Albanese government, because we know climate change is real and we know that we need to be part of mitigating the impacts of climate change here for our own sake but also for the sake of our Pacific family and to be part of sensible, cooperative global action. The environment minister has approved, in the term of this government, more than 65 renewable projects. We have the largest pipeline of investment in green hydrogen in the world. All of those things, which people should look at and take heart from, have been delivered in a little bit more than 2½ years. It is not 'mission accomplished', as the member for Brisbane says. We have never ever taken than approach. We've taken the approach that there is no time to waste, and we're going to continue to make positive change when it comes to climate change and the energy transition—every single week of this government, every month and every year. We've done that from the very beginning. We've continued that right up until the last month or so, and it will continue over the course of this summer and into next year, when, of course, Australians will have a choice. The choice is a very clear one: Do Australians want this country to be on its best path, to be on the path that suits our best interests and represents our best character? Do they want Australia to continue on the path of sensible, focused, sustained, collaborative, effective climate change action which we need to make sure that we don't suffer the worst effects of climate change? We need to make sure that we don't experience those not only in terms of our environment and our social and economic wellbeing but also to make sure that we don't miss out on all of the many opportunities that are being taken up around the world as the planet goes through an energy transition. We know that there needs to be more renewables and storage. We're already delivering that, and we will continue to see that grow as time goes ahead. We know that, as part of the response to climate change, hydrocarbons need to decrease. We know that the days of fossil fuels are numbered as a result of the energy transformation that's occurring. But, while we do all of those things in a sensible, responsible, sustained and focused way here in Australia, we'll continue to be a responsible energy partner for countries in our region as they go through their transition in their own way. If you think about a country like Singapore, which is 700-square kilometres, probably three times larger than my electorate of Fremantle, with five or six million people, they are at five per cent renewables. They have a challenge to increase their proportion of renewable energy with a country of that land mass. They're making those efforts. They're adding new cables to have the benefit of renewable energy projects in other parts of South-East Asia. Of course, we have a proposal like that to support them as well. There's one thing that people need to know, young people in particular. Australians made a clear choice in the middle of 2022. They said: 'We don't want this science-free climate-change-denialist madness to continue. We don't want to suffer the consequences of that. We don't want to miss out on the opportunities that come from a responsible approach to this issue.' They chose this parliament, and they chose this Albanese Labor government. From the very beginning, we have acted. Ever since, we have made massive and significant changes to ensure that we are on the right track when it comes to emissions reduction and that we're on the right track when it comes to renewable energy generation.
Future Made in Australia (Guarantee of Origin Charges) Bill 2024; Third Reading | Bills | House debates