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

I rise to speak on this very important urgency motion. What we've seen throughout the entire term of this Albanese government is that, time and time again, their priorities do not lie in the best interests of Australians. They certainly don't lie in the best interests of Western Australia, my home state. For the past three years, we've watched on in horror as they have continually misjudged the signs of the times. Again, here we are: this out-of-touch government is being forced to backpedal yet again on their industry-killing, Orwellian-named nature-positive agenda.

At a time when people across the country continue to fight against the biting cost-of-living crisis that is impacting every household and every business, Mr Albanese thought it was appropriate to push this nature-positive bill not once but twice—a nature-positive bill that the recent ACIL Allen report states would push WA's wholesale electricity prices up by 38 per cent while Labor harps on about reducing energy costs. It is estimated that the nature-positive bill would also increase the cost of residential land in WA by an estimated 10.6 per cent and reduce housing availability by 25 per cent while Labor reassure Australians that they are doing everything they can to address this housing crisis. They are completely out of touch.

Senator Chisholm comes in here and acts like we are playing a political game, yet it was them who put it back on the Notice Paper. They actually had it listed to be debated later this week. Now, we understand there is a motion to have it removed from the Notice Paper tomorrow, yet they've got an opportunity to vote with us right now, today, on this motion to say that this is urgent and that it needs to be dealt with.

Australians are hurting because of the decisions of this government. There is nothing that tells Western Australians that this government is against Western Australians more than this nature-positive bill. We know in Western Australia the chilling effect that it will have on the mining industry. We know the chilling effect that it will have on investment in the resources industry. The cost that it would impose upon businesses and resource projects across Western Australia would be astronomical. And do you know what that means? It means jobs will be lost. It means projects will be unviable. It means we will not see projects continue and we will not see new projects go ahead because of the decisions of this government. That will cost Western Australians. This is the price that will be paid if this government have their way.

They are going to take it off the Notice Paper, so they will say: 'Nothing to see here. It is now off the Notice Paper. The scaremongering can go away because it is no longer an issue.' Why won't the Prime Minister categorically rule out that it will not be brought back in the next term of government, should they be able to cobble together a minority government? We know it will be a condition of support from the Australian Greens. It will be a condition of support for minority government, for the Australian Greens to back in the Greens-Labor coalition. It will be a condition and will be something that will have to happen under an Adam Bandt-led government, because that is what we will see. This is not something Australians can afford. It is certainly not something Western Australians can afford. They know. That is why even Roger Cook, the champion of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act, no less, called this out as ridiculous policy. Even he called this out as something that cannot happen for Western Australia, because he knows it will cost jobs. Mr Albanese does not seem to care about that, and that is why he is hiding away until after the election, thinking he can pull the wool over the eyes of Western Australians. Well, Western Australians are going to wake up. (Time expired)