Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

The short answer to the senator’s question is, of course, no. I noticed him during question time jumping on each occasion, so I thought he was going to have a real doozy of a question. I must say that I was quite disappointed at how flat it actually was. The renewable energy sector is an important sector, but we have to have all these things in a sensible construct. The IPCC has in fact said to the Australian community that the Howard government’s approach is the correct approach. That is why we as a government have invested heavily in renewable energy in a host of ways without insisting that the mandatory renewable energy target be increased.

Pacific Hydro are in the business of renewable energy. They just got a $300 million contact courtesy of the Victorian government. So guess what they are going to say? They are going to say, ‘We love it.’ What their press release did not say was that that target and their income resulted not only from Victorian government policy but also at a cost to the Victorian taxpayer. That is the important thing that people need to understand. If you were to increase the renewable energy target, you would increase the cost of energy and that would impact on every energy user in this country, especially in the manufacturing sector—which the Australian Labor Party profess to champion.

Those opposite go to the manufacturers, hand on heart, and say: ‘We want to look after you. Isn’t the Howard government policy bad?’ And then they go over to the Greens and the green groups, hand on heart, and say: ‘Guess what we’re going to do? We’re really going to do over the manufacturing sector, but don’t tell anybody, because we want your Green preferences. So you just tell all your supporters.’ This has been the problem with Mr Rudd and the Australian Labor Party. No matter what the issue is, they seek to walk down both sides of the street. It is about time the people of Australia were made aware of that by our friends in the media—rather than giving him the easy run that he has had.

In relation to renewable energy, I say to the honourable senator opposite: we have invested $252.2 million for solar hot water rebates; $336.1 million for green vouchers for schools; $201.8 million for the Photovoltaic Rebate Program; $328 million for the Renewable Remote Power Generation Program; $100 million for the Renewable Energy Development Initiative; $75 million for Solar Cities—something that the state of Victoria has in fact benefited from, which I thought Senator Marshall, as a senator from Victoria, might have had the good grace to refer to rather than trying to make cheap, political comment; $20 million for the advanced electricity storage initiative; $14 million for an advanced wind forecasting capability; and $25 million to develop renewable energy technology through the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. And the list goes on and on.

What the people of Australia want, and what they are in fact receiving from this government, is a sensible, measured approach to the issues that are confronting us not only as a nation but also as a world. What those on the other side are doing is simply jumping onto slogans and claiming that somehow those slogans will benefit the community—but they will not. (Time expired)