Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

You may well know it, but I query whether or not you remember it, because you've just rolled out exactly the same policy but even worse, without a road map. You talk about evidence and facts, yet there's no evidence and facts supporting your policy to move to net zero emissions by 2050.

Let me give you one example. Even New Zealand proposes to largely exempt the agricultural sector from the net-zero-emissions goal which the New Zealand government legislated. Even New Zealand agreed to do that. But, when we saw the Leader of the Opposition in another train wreck of an interview on Insiders yesterday, he said: 'No. It applies to agriculture. It applies to transport. It applies across the board.' His answer on transport, I think, just showed how disconnected he is from everyday people in Queensland. He said, 'Well, they can catch public transport.' If you're operating a beef cattle station in Western Queensland, you can't just catch public transport. I'm sorry. It's not the inner city suburbs of Sydney, Melbourne or Adelaide. People in regional Queensland have a right to an answer to responsible questions, and one of those questions is: what is your policy going to cost, and what will it mean to those regional communities in my home state of Queensland which rely upon export-exposed industries?

Anthony Albanese, in his interview on Insiders, also said: 'Well, yeah, Australia will keep exporting thermal coal in 2050, probably. Absolutely. Why not?' With that export of thermal coal will go the jobs, just as we've seen BlueScope Steel set up a steel mill in Ohio because electricity prices here in Australia are too high, and just as we've seen Incitec Pivot set up an ammonium nitrate plant in Louisiana because electricity prices here are too high, and just as we've seen the owners of Boyne Island smelter in my home state of Queensland, Tomago aluminium smelter in New South Wales and Portland smelter in Victoria say electricity prices in this country are too high now. It is nonsense.

Our policy is clear. We will achieve the treaty obligations which we entered into in Paris. We will achieve those obligations. Sometimes I wonder if those opposite this side of the chamber are actually standing up and fighting for the people of Australia or whether they're representing other people. They're certainly not representing the people of my home state of Queensland.