Varun Ghosh (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's not surprising to see this motion moved by One Nation, but the real suspense it provokes is in relation to what the Liberal Party and the National Party are going to do. Less than a week ago, Mr Joyce and Mr McCormack were on the front page of the Australian in a unity ticket to ditch net zero. The question is whether the Liberal Party of Australia is going to learn the lessons of the election but also learn the lessons of what's happening in our climate and our economy and actually take a step back to the reasonable part of Australian politics, or lurch right once again and double down on the policies of the Dutton opposition and their head-in-the-sand approach to climate change.

A net zero emissions target is not something to be feared; it's an opportunity for Australia to capitalise on a changing global economy while addressing an important issue that requires addressing, not just from an economic perspective but for our survival on the planet. To ignore the need to tackle climate change and to reach net zero emissions is to put our people, our farmers, our businesses, our livelihoods and our industries at risk. It's no secret that this transition is going to be challenging, but doing nothing will be much more costly. Deloitte estimates that over 50 years unchecked climate change would, in average annual terms, reduce Australia's economic growth by three per cent per year. That's why the government's committed to tackling this problem in a certain way and in a responsible way.

Dr Ken Henry, the former secretary of the Treasury, addressed the National Press Club last week, and he said:

The biggest threat to future productivity growth comes from nature itself; more particularly, from its destruction.

It is now well accepted that a degraded natural world poses myriad threats to food systems, provision of clean air and, water and the continuing supply of other ecosystem services critical to production. While those opposite are always happy to use the word 'productivity', they rarely go beyond it and look at the benefits that this transition will have for our productivity and our economy. Longer droughts, bigger floods and more intense bushfires threaten the future of our agricultural sector, a reduction in productivity. In Australia, researchers predict that wheat yield loss may be as high as 27 per cent in parts of northern Victoria in the next 40 years, impacting on food security and food affordability—things that are very important to the people of this side of the house. It is a failure to address climate change and to reach net zero that will hurt our country and its people.

Let's go back to 2020 and a document that was prepared by then minister Angus Taylor, the Technology Investment Roadmap. At that stage, perhaps a more sensible Liberal Party—certainly not as extreme as it is today—told us in that roadmap that low-emissions technologies could position Australia for over $30 billion a year in new export revenue from energy-intensive, low-emissions products by 2040. That's why, in its 2021 report on this, the Business Council of Australia announced its support for reaching net zero. That council, that radical organisation, said:

The pace and scale of change is accelerating globally. Australia is at a crossroads: we can either embrace decarbonisation and seize a competitive advantage in developing new technologies and export industries; or be left behind and pay the price.

…     …     …

The transition … must run in tandem with the nation realising greater economy-wide productivity gains, lifting international competitiveness and improving the ability to attract investment in order to accelerate economic growth and secure Australia's long-term prosperity.

That's the Business Council of Australia, and it speaks to the political extremism and the wander to the right of those opposite that they don't get onboard with these changes.

What has the government done, though? We've seen record levels of renewable energy generation, reaching 46 per cent on the national market at the end of 2024, and we've seen a significant increase in generational capacity. It's not a simple task, but doing this transition positions Australia to be part of a global economic change, it allows us to generate revenue for export industries, and, most importantly, it allows us to play our role in tackling a significant global challenge which is affecting not only our economy but also our ecosystems and our liveability on the planet itself.

So, while the motion from One Nation is not surprising, what is surprising is the speed and the cynical nature with which it has been approached or adopted by those opposite. What remains to be seen is whether the Liberal Party can find some sense and find its way back or whether it remains on the right fringe and denies the existence of this problem.

Debate interrupted.