Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very happy to stand and speak on this matter of public importance today because it gives me an opportunity to talk about a number of matters, particularly our government's record on delivering our renewable energy plan to make this country a renewable energy superpower. It particularly gives me an opportunity to talk about the debate we are having about nuclear energy in this place, why we're having the debate and who is pushing that debate in this chamber. We know there's a reason that the Liberal and National parties are pushing nuclear as a form of energy. It's because they're distracting from their bitter disunity and denialism on climate change and it's because they don't want to see this country become a renewable energy superpower.

I am proud that one of the first actions of our government was legislating our emissions reductions targets. Our government has a clear commitment to renewable energy. We know that firmed renewables are the cheapest form of energy and that they are getting cheaper every single day. If we hadn't lost 10 years of investment, we would be far beyond where we are now, but we are making good headway in catching up. We are working with the states and territories to deliver renewable energy projects across the country. It's why we're delivering our Powering Australia Plan, but we're also choosing to invest in renewables through the National Reconstruction Fund, an incredibly important piece of legislation that those opposite have dealt themselves out of. We want to see our regions become renewable energy powerhouses. I speak of the region that I come from in Far North Queensland when I talk about the wind, solar and pumped hydro opportunities that will create jobs in regional Queensland.

It's important to understand where we've come from over the past 10 years and why we are now having this debate—why we're at a point where we are having a genuine discussion about renewable energy not being the way forward. It's because the LNP's record on energy is abysmal. In government, the Liberal-National coalition vetoed projects that would have created hundreds of jobs in regional Queensland. In Queensland, the Liberal National Party tried to sell off the state's power assets so that we couldn't have public energy in public hands. When it came to promising what power they would generate, the federal coalition did promise years and years ago to build a coal-fired power station in North Queensland. That never happened because there is nothing from this former government when it comes to delivering on the promises they made.

Heading up into the election, they hid key information about electricity prices from Australians. Now, in opposition, they choose to vote against energy bill relief. They talk about reducing power prices, but they're not prepared to vote for cheaper power bills.

We know what the experts say about nuclear energy. It's expensive, it's slow and it's the hardest to deliver when it comes to forms of power. It isn't members on this side of the chamber saying that; it's the CSIRO. They've done these reports time and time again and found that nuclear energy would be far and away the most expensive form of energy in Australia. That is the experts telling us about nuclear energy when it comes to the way forward. We're facing an energy crisis right now in this country and in this world, and it is a matter of deep concern that a party of government is pushing a form of energy that would not have a plan and would take decades to establish.

Why are the Liberal and National parties talking about nuclear energy? It's purely because they are completely disunified when it comes to their beliefs about climate change and about renewable energy itself. They don't believe in renewable energy, they don't believe in climate change and they don't believe in doing anything about it. The Liberal and National parties can choose to generate a debate about nuclear energy, but they are using it as a distraction from the fact that they continue to drift further and further to the extreme far right on issues like this and others that we have seen play out in the national debate this week.

The Australian public know that the former government did nothing on energy. The proposal that they are putting forward around nuclear is uncosted, won't be delivered and won't deliver the jobs that regional Queenslanders deserve. I urge this chamber to push back on this debate. (Time expired)