Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to move a motion relating to the consideration of legislation, as circulated.

Leave not granted.

Pursuant to the contingent notice standing in my name, I move:

That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent me moving a motion to provide for the consideration of a matter, namely a motion to provide that a motion relating to the consideration of legislation may be moved immediately and determined without amendment or debate.

What the Greens are seeking to do here is to ensure that seminal legislation to underwrite 32 gigawatts of renewable energy investment pass this chamber today. We have secured amendments in the other place to make sure that this 32-gigawatt clean energy target is written into law. The reason we did that is that nobody knows what the parliament's going to look like in a few short months but we do know that Mr Dutton will certainly not back in clean energy for this country. In fact, he'd rather prop up coal and gas, using a nuclear fantasy as a fig leaf. So it is absolutely crucial that anyone who supports clean energy, in particular solar and wind, sees this legislation pass today.

We know that the opposition will try every trick in the book to talk out this bill. They'll probably seek their own suspension. They will throw every procedural trick in the book that they've got at this, and that is exactly why we need to make sure that, today, this chamber deals with this piece of legislation. We will not stand by and watch the country go down a nuclear fantasy path, which simply props up coal and gas in the meantime, when we have a chance today to legislate the Capacity Investment Scheme—the government underwriting of the clean energy industry. This is a very important decision that the chamber will be making, and I know the crossbench know that, if they support clean energy, then they need to support this suspension.

The other reason that we're moving this suspension today is to make sure that the gender pay gap legislation also has a chance to pass this parliament. The other thing we know that Mr Dutton doesn't like—it's not just renewable energy—is women getting a fair go. He doesn't support that, either. We know the Liberal Party will be opposing the legislation to require mega companies to close their gender pay gaps, so we are moving this suspension motion today to make sure that this chamber can actually improve women's rights at work—so they can be paid fairly—and ensure that the climate crisis can be tackled with decent investment in clean energy.

Mr Dutton does not want big businesses to close the gender pay gaps that they've identified. In years gone by, the Liberal Party didn't support the gender pay gap legislation at all. The problem with that law has been that, whilst companies have had to identify whether they have a gender pay gap, they haven't had to do anything to close it. Well, today's legislation is the first step to say to those super big companies, the ones over 500 workers, that they not only have to identify their gender pay gap but also have to actually do something to close that pay gap. That's really important.

If this parliament does not ensure that that legislation passes today, you can bet your bottom dollar that Mr Dutton's Liberal Party in minority government would not be progressing that. In fact they'll probably try to further undermine women's rights at work. So today is the chance for everyone in this chamber, the women in particular, to back in women's rights at work and to back in the right for us to receive fair pay. That is precisely why it is crucial that we ensure that these two pieces of legislation pass the parliament today. I'm urging our friends on the crossbench—because we know we certainly won't get any support from the coalition over there—to vote for the climate, for women and for integrity. Let's get this done today.