David Smith (ACT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to take note of answers provided by Minister Birmingham to questions from Senator Gallacher and Senator Marshall about the NEG. Last week it was great to have the opportunity to see some of the innovative work being done in the electric and autonomous vehicle space in South Australia with Senator Bushby, Senator Storer and other members of this chamber. On the site visits we had over a couple of days, it was clear that there were opportunities to marry up advanced manufacturing opportunities with renewable energy investment.

Effective policies that address Australia's long-term need to transition to renewable energy have the ability to bring about lower prices, lower pollution and more jobs both in renewable energy and manufacturing. What we heard from the minister in question time today was an impassioned defence of the National Energy Guarantee. But it was a defence that I suspect was aimed more at the minister's own backbench colleagues than at those on this side of the chamber. Indeed, I think the minister appeared to be repeating as a mantra that everyone was singing off the same song sheet, and if he did that often enough that would magically make his colleagues appear on side.

What we still know on this side of the chamber is that the NEG is still inadequate. It only provides for 36 per cent renewables by 2030. That is an increase of little more than 250 megawatts per year through the 2020s. It will strangle the renewable energy industry and do nothing to reduce pollution, lower prices or create jobs in renewable energy across Australia. We know that power prices have gone up under this government. The proof is in everyone's power bills. We know that renewables are the cheapest form of new energy generation. We know that this government's targets will not be met and will not lead to major renewable projects being built before 2030.

But that is still not enough for the minister's colleagues. Just today we've seen reporting again that a number of backbenchers oppose even this weak policy. The member for New England, Barnaby Joyce, is reportedly placing conditions on his support for the NEG, threatening to cross the floor if his demands are not met. The member for Hughes, Craig Kelly, has said it would be no bad thing if the policy didn't get the support of parliament. That is hard to reconcile with the minister's comments about the team all being onside. And the former Prime Minister, Mr Abbott, has spoken of the need to keep coal in the system for a long time to come. The minister, if he was back in the chamber, would probably suggest that it's not unusual for the coalition to pretend that they are singing off the same song sheet when they clearly are not. It's not unusual. It's the Tom Jones defence, the defence used by the minister's colleague, the member for Kooyong, to justify handing over half a billion dollars without due process. What he knows, though, is that it's a reference to the wrong Tom Jones song. It's not about it not being unusual; it's about understanding that many of his colleagues are actively trying to burn down the house. The ideological warriors of the Right remain tied to coal and opposed to any form of transition to renewable energy. The government seems determined to appease them rather than produce an effective policy. The energy industry knows that new coal power plants will not be viable. The chair of the Energy Security Board has said, 'There would be absolutely no way that anybody would be financing a new coal-fired power station.' The government is offering to waste taxpayers' money on coal to appease its own backbench, rather than supporting the technologies that will help us transition to a 21st century economy, lower prices and emissions and support jobs now and in the future.

We have already seen splits in the coalition over climate policy cause a change of party leadership, when the current Prime Minister was rolled in 2009. Once again the coalition is all at sea over energy. They are in chaos. They cannot make up their mind whether to accept and support new technologies or to tie themselves to the past. They may say that this is not unusual. We know that they're still trying to burn down the house. Whoever wins the battle within the coalition party room, it's clear that all Australians will be the losers, every day until the next election, when a Shorten Labor government will ensure that we put climate change and jobs back properly on the agenda in a way that is sustainable and delivers outcomes for all Australians.

Question agreed to.