Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Let me begin by saying say how much of a joke I think some of the language in this MPI is. Honestly—here we are in the Senate again with the LNP's opposition to sustainable renewable energy for the nation on show yet again, and there is division even with the contributions that we've seen here this evening. I'd say, despite the incoherence of what is put before us in this MPI, bring on the debate. Let's continue to undertake the proper education of the nation. Let's talk about it for as long as we need, because, as a Labor senator, I'm here in the chamber to talk about the policies that we're actually investing in to make a real and practical difference for Australians instead of the whinge-fest that's going on on the other side.

Those opposite seem determined to spend every moment in here trying to engage in yet another sideshow discussion. In the meantime, our government, the Labor Albanese government, is getting on with building the energy systems that Australians need. The opposition at this point of time, I'm sad to say, my fellow Australians, have not even figured out what they want from renewable energy, because clearly it's not lowering energy costs. We've had to do that in spite of them voting against every proposition to support Australians in the management of household finances with regard to energy. The LNP can't agree on more access to renewable forms of energy, so we had to go ahead and do that without them. One of those key policy items was Labor's Cheaper Home Batteries Program. They screamed black and blue they didn't want it to happen. Again, Labor has advanced in spite of the hysterical opposition and uncertainty into the energy market that is the consequence of the schizophrenic debate that we see in the LNP.

What's patently clear by the actions of the LNP, when it comes down to basic questions about the cheapest forms of energy available to us, is the divided and divisive LNP answers. The main one that they agree on is saying a resounding no. They scream, 'No, no, no,' and they join a 'no-alition' with whoever they can to prevent the progress of this nation with regard to energy. They spent their last term in opposition, instead of supporting renewable energy, proposing power plants and small modular reactors. There's not even one built in the world, yet that was their policy. No wonder they didn't want to speak about it on the booths on the Central Coast where I was handing out. It was an impossible end to the 22 failed propositions that they'd already considered.

We are facing energy challenges now, because, in their nine long, terrible years of government, the LNP dithered, debated, backstabbed and undermined, all while cycling through the 22 iterations of energy policy announcements. We won't call them energy policy enactments, because they were more hollow than that. They were full of sound and fury, barking at Australians with a new idea every few months and with no coherence or cohesion. After all of that chaos, the disingenuity and the failure—get your popcorn, people, because the signs are that the LNP are going to spend this term of parliament, again, relitigating their policy on net zero. They seem to have learned absolutely nothing, and I'd just say: 'Keep at it. That's fantastic, guys. Well done, Angus. Well done, Barnaby, and everyone else who's continuing the division in the Liberal and National parties. You can spend your weeknights on TV shows, talking to whoever you're talking to with regard to net zero, but, while you're doing that and continuing the chaos of your nine long years, this government is getting on with the job of doing the careful, considered nation-building work to secure our national energy needs, just like a real government should do.'

It's going to take years of continued effort to fix what the coalition broke when they were in government. And, even now, they can't come up with a stance that's united enough to argue anything of validity. We just had Senator Bragg talking about the capital markets—follow the money. 'They've made up their minds,' he said. 'They're investing in renewables.' The market's moved on. The LNP are stuck in the mired mess of their own past. Sometimes it feels to me that the coalition members and senators are more concerned about being contrarian than Australian. They care more about arguing with one another than creating effective reality based lower energy costs for Australian householders. That is why we will continue to serve the Australian people in energy policy. (Time expired)