Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on another matter of urgency. Urgency! The most urgent agenda for the Labor Party—the most urgent matter that Senator Urquhart and the Labor Party can dig up—while we're just starting to recover from the global pandemic, while the economy needs astute management, while our borders are just starting to reopen and while the global security situation is perilous, is comments made by the Prime Minister in 2019. What a farce! Really, it's embarrassing. They seem obsessed. Maybe that's why they're taking out ads on TikTok to attack him. This is apparently the alternative government—wow! They really are taking the opportunity to deal with the big issues here today.

For the record, of course neither the government nor I will be supporting this motion. On the issue of climate and emissions, we have already delivered. We have delivered through technology and not taxes. We have delivered greater cuts to our emissions than we committed to under the 2030 target. We met and beat our 2020 target and we are forecast to reduce our emissions by up to 35 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030. And we're doing this with the most consistently transparent reporting regime in the world. This is in comparison to China, whose 2030 emissions reduction target is that they will only double their emissions based on 2005 levels. But with the urgency motion which we're discussing here today, let's get to it.

We will not be legislating a 2050 target. We will not lock in a blank cheque with no way to achieve it. What would the Labor Party do in 2048 if they had legislated a 2050 net-zero target and it looked like it wasn't going to make it? Which industry would they shut down? How many new taxes would they raise to buy offsets? I'll leave that to the Labor Party to explain. We on this side are not legislating emissions targets, but we will consistently meet them. We always do. We beat our 2020 target and we're on track to beat our 2030 target. The only time an emissions target was legislated in Australia was under Prime Minister Gillard, who said that there would never be a carbon tax under any government she led. She did exactly that. She led her government to a carbon tax.

I think what really annoys those opposite the most is that we've set out a very credible plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 while, importantly, preserving existing industries. We want to get down the cost of clean energy and low-emissions technologies. We want to get those costs down, not drive up the cost of meat, coal, gas, oil, steel, aluminium and other energy- and emissions-intensive goods. We will take advantage of new economic opportunities, ensure our regions continue to prosper, and establish Australia as a leader in new low-emissions technologies like hydrogen.

I will touch on hydrogen for a moment because I believe it has a very big future for Australia. Blue and green hydrogen will both have a role to play. There are actually a myriad of colours—there is brown and pink—but the colour doesn't really matter. If we can get proof of concept then we've the basis for a global energy industry. I'm proud to say that in my home state of Western Australia the government and industry are already working together at pace to prove this concept.

With the aid of a $42.5 million grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, Yara Pilbara and ENGIE will build a renewable hydrogen plant to produce renewable ammonia. It is scheduled for completion in 2023. The facility will be one of the world's first industrial-scale renewable hydrogen production operations. The project will build upon the Pilbara's renewable energy potential. We know that it's one of the sunniest and windiest places on the planet. This project is going to make a big difference up there for industry and, indeed, for that region. The existing Yara Pilbara ammonia plant will deliver green ammonia to customers for decarbonising emissions from power generation, shipping, fertiliser production and mining explosives. I've toured Yara's current facility, and I look forward to touring their new facility when it's up and running as well.

The new facility will comprise a 10-megawatt electrolyser, an on-site facility of photovoltaic panels and a battery storage system that will allow the plant to operate without being connected to the main electrical grid. The first phase of the project will produce up to 625 tonnes of renewable hydrogen and 3,700 tonnes of renewable ammonia per year. This initial phase will be key to enable the facility to become a keystone in the Pilbara hydrogen hub and will build upon the existing export infrastructure there.

It's projects like these that will get us to net zero, not Labor's burdensome regulations and taxes. Our policies and investments are enabling households and businesses to deploy new technologies. Why? Because it actually makes economic sense. The plan is based on our existing policies and focuses on driving down technology costs and accelerating their development at scale across the economy. Our existing policies work and so will our plan.

Our existing policies also do not spell the end to traditional industries like coal and natural gas. Indeed, they recognise their importance. It's such a shame that the member for Hunter, Mr Joel Fitzgibbon, is leaving the Labor benches, because he was basically the only one on their side who was an industrial realist. Just yesterday we saw an announcement by Woodside and BHP that they will move ahead with their Scarborough gas project, which is also located in the Pilbara in Western Australia—fantastic. This region is genuinely the engine room of the Australian economy. If you haven't been there, you need to go there and look at the scale of what is going on in that region. It certainly is the engine room. This project will see $16.5 billion in investment and create upwards of 3,200 jobs. It is exactly these types of projects and these jobs that will be under threat from a Labor government seeking to legislate a net zero position.

Finally I'll touch on the comments referenced in the urgency motion. Now, I'm a fan of electric cars. As soon as they're more affordable, I reckon I'll be buying one. They're very good, and I think there's an exciting prospect for them. But the fact is that there's not a single electric car on the market that can tow a caravan. There isn't. Show it to me—it doesn't exist. Now, it's pretty true that there are some emerging vehicles. There's the Rivian—I challenge you to have a look at it. It looks like an exciting vehicle. But the reality is that lithium-battery powered vehicles have a limited range. The vehicle is only so big, and you can only put so many batteries in a vehicle.

A Rivian is a dual-cab ute. It can tow a large caravan. It can, but the reality is its range without a load is about 480 kilometres. Madam Acting Deputy President, anyone that has a caravan or a boat will tell you that, as soon as you put that load on the vehicle, it halves the range. Even in a diesel vehicle—if the diesel vehicle has a 500-kilometre range, you put a boat on it or a caravan on it and it significantly reduces it, by more than half. Anyone with a caravan or boat will tell you that. The same is true for an EV. This vehicle has the capability to tow it, but it will only be able to tow it about 240 kilometres. And, with the battery in that—which is a 135 kilowatt-hour battery—that will take about six hours to charge up. Fair enough. If you're towing a caravan behind you, I suppose you could always pull over and have a bit of a kip for six hours, every two and a bit hours—you could go and do that. But, let's face it: it's not practical.

Hydrogen provides a future, but that's many years off. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles may be the way to go in the future. As soon as these vehicles become cheaper and more affordable and accessible, I've got no doubt that Australians will actively choose to buy an EV. It suits small-scale commuter vehicles, it suits driving around town—daily-driver sorts of vehicles. That's fine. I think Australians will make that choice for themselves.

But this motion is emblematic of the modern Labor Party. They clutch at green straws while dodging the real issues of the day, seeking to legislate and regulate their world view on Australians. They're going to force these vehicles off the road. We want Australians to have choice—that's what it's about. It's a long way off before you're going to be able to hitch up your caravan and your boat behind an EV, let's face it. If you can show me a vehicle that can do it, I might even go and buy one myself!