George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Once again, you seem to dwell on this false antithesis between support for the Australian mining industry and support for the environment. It was the same error that was made by Senator Waters in a question she asked me earlier in the week.

We, on the government side, Senator Di Natale, believe that you can have a prosperous, thriving and environmentally responsible mining and coal industry, and a well-cared for environment at the same time. You in the Greens, Senator Di Natale, do not. Nowhere is the falsity of that antithesis more obvious than in my own state of Queensland where we have, with the Great Barrier Reef and the other great environmental sites, a well-cared for environment that is well regulated and, at the same time, we have a mining industry, which would be a more thriving industry, if people like you got out of the way and let it develop. (Time expired)