Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Here we find ourselves while the bushfires are burning on the eastern seaboard of Australia and have been burning for many weeks now. Here we find ourselves while we are facing an El Nino summer where we can confidently predict we will see record temperatures and, tragically, once again the eastern seaboard of Australia burning. And here are the Labor Party doing what they have done for decades now: coming into this place and legislating for the benefit of the gas cartel and the fossil fuel corporations.

How do we know this? Because Senator Wong, in an extraordinary revelation in question time on Friday, said the quiet bit out loud. She made it very clear that this was legislation that was designed to be beneficial to Woodside, to Santos and, interestingly, to Japan and South Korea. She specifically made the assertion to the Liberal Party that they were saying no to Woodside, to Santos and to INPEX, but they were also, according to Senator Wong, saying no to Japan and South Korea. It's no surprise whatsoever to close watchers of this parliament that the gas cartel is running the show in this joint. It is no surprise whatsoever to hear from Senator Wong that Woodside and Santos are beneficiaries of the sea dumping bill. But what was a surprise was that Senator Wong accused the Liberals of saying no to Japan and South Korea. This is the foreign minister of Australia admitting in the Senate that she is being pressured by Japan and South Korea to pass this carbon capture and storage legislation. By the way, if you think carbon capture and storage is a viable technology, I have a harbour bridge up for sale and I'd be happy to have a discussion with you about that.

This revelation from Senator Wong that Japan and Korea are pressuring her and the Australian government to have this legislation passed raises some very interesting questions: exactly what has been the nature of the communications from the Japanese and South Korean governments to the foreign minister here in Australia and to the Australian government; how much of a role did the pressure from the Japanese and South Korean governments play in the Australian government bringing this legislation forward; and, critically, what other fossil fuel projects is Senator Wong being pressured on by the Japanese government, the South Korean government or any other foreign government? The Australian people have a right to know what is going on here. The Australian foreign minister has made it clear that she is under pressure from the Japanese and South Korean governments to pass this legislation. What is the nature of that pressure? What role has that pressure played? On what other fossil fuel corporations or projects is she under pressure from foreign governments? Those are legitimate questions for Australians to understand.

We sat here last week and watched Senator McAllister dodge and weave around these very questions, and then we sat here in question time and watched Senator Wong throw Senator McAllister under a bus. You could not make this stuff up. Day after day, Senator McAllister fronted in this chamber and stood up to do the bidding of the gas cartel and did everything she could, tied herself in knots, to avoid answering questions about the benefit of this legislation to the gas cabal and about whether or not there had been pressure applied by the Japanese and Korean governments. Then in came Senator Wong, and in 10 seconds she undid all those many hours of contortions and tying herself in knots that we witnessed from Senator McAllister last week. You could not make this stuff up. I would have actually paid good money to watch this happen. If it weren't so serious, it would be utterly hilarious what a shambles of a government this is. They can't even get their story straight.

What we now know is that this is not just for Woodside and Santos and Inpex; this is for the governments of Japan and South Korea. Of course, that's because they want our gas. That's because our gas is not actually for making sure Australians have got enough gas; it's for making sure that people who live in other countries have got enough gas. We're selling it off for a pittance. We're exporting most of it overseas. And we are cooking the planet. What a bunch of geniuses we have got running the show in here! For the benefit of Hansard, that last statement was dripping in sarcasm.

You could not make this stuff up. We are supposed to be in this place legislating for the benefit of the Australian people. We are supposed to be in here legislating for future generations. Right now, future generations not just here in Australia but right around the world are facing a future wracked with fire, wracked with flood, wracked with heat, wracked with disaster, wracked with displacement, wracked with disease and wracked with death. That's because the major parties in this place and their likenesses around the world cannot divorce themselves from big fossil fuel corporations. They just cannot do it. Whether it's the Labor Party or the Liberal Party, they cannot do it.

When the history of this time is written, those who are unable to divorce themselves from the interests and the greed of big fossil fuel corporations will be understood as culpable—culpable for the collapse of our ecosystems, culpable for the death of countless humans, culpable for the dislocation of many more, culpable for wars, disease and famine. And you cannot say you didn't know. You cannot say you didn't know, because you do know, yet day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, decade after decade you come into this place, as you are doing today with the Environment Protection (Sea Dumping) Amendment (Using New Technologies to Fight Climate Change) Bill 2023, and you legislate for the interests of big fossil fuel. It is an utter disgrace and an abrogation of your responsibility not only to Australians today but to Australians and people right around the world of the future—our kids, our grandkids, their kids, their grandkids. It is an absolute disgrace, which is what this sea-dumping bill is. It is an utter disgrace, a capitulation to the psychopaths running big fossil fuel corporations and a step down the dark road to ecocide. That's what is happening day after day, week after week in this place, and it is both major parties who are culpable—the government and the opposition.

These are dark days, colleagues, and they are getting darker simply because those who are captured by big fossil fuel are refusing to do what the science and what the United Nations are telling us we need to do: develop no more coal and gas and stop native forest logging. We have to radically reduce our emissions.