Leah Blyth (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Stronger Families and Stronger Communities) Share this | Hansard source

Australians are good stewards of this land. We care deeply about our environment, our farms, our coastlines and our communities. Australians want to do the right thing, yet this government wants to carve up our beautiful country to make way for renewables. Ninety-five per cent of Australia's emissions reductions have not come from technology or innovation but from land use restrictions. This is not stewardship. It is saying one thing and doing another. The Australian people deserve better.

We're constantly being told that the wind and the sun cost nothing, but—for the grown-ups in the room—nothing is ever for free. The real cost is estimated to be in the trillions of dollars, somewhere between $100,000 and $250,000 for every single Australian.

We were promised cheaper, cleaner, more reliable energy. Instead, costs are soaring, reliability is failing and Labor's green subsidies are lining the pockets of foreign companies, green energy grifters and international investors while putting everyday Australians out of work. Even leading economists now admit that no large-scale renewable projects are proceeding without government support. When will the minister and this government admit that billions of taxpayer dollars are being spent to prop up projects that cannot stand on their own merit. Take the Capacity Investment Scheme, an open-ended subsidy that guarantees profits for renewable developers. It puts taxpayers on the hook whenever market prices fall. The government pays the difference. With no spending cap, all the financial risk shifts from private investors to Australian households, who are already paying—and struggling with—higher power bills.

Then there's the new vehicle efficiency standard; I call that 'Labor's war on utes'. We are told it is about cleaner cars and cheaper fuel. In truth, it comes with a hundred-million-dollar set-up bill and annual ongoing costs—money that could have gone to roads, schools and essential services. Instead, everyday Australians are paying more for vehicles, losing choice in the market and watching billions flow into red tape and green tape.

This is not climate action; it is cost shifting and economic self-harm. It's also government control and overreach, telling us what cars we can and can't drive and unfairly impacting those who use a ute or a larger four-wheel drive for their work or family. Last time I checked, a Tesla isn't really great for farm work or to chuck your tools in if you're a tradie. Meanwhile, the safeguard mechanism operates as a carbon tax by another name, taxing our largest employers only to hand them subsidies so that they can survive. It is economics turned upside down, driving up costs, driving out manufacturing and driving away investment.

Many major employers across mining, manufacturing and energy are being forced to buy overseas carbon credits or face penalties. Independent analysis shows this could cost industry up to $1.7 billion a year and nearly $12 billion by 2030. That is money that could have gone into cleaner technologies, new projects and regional jobs. Instead, it's being drained to meet arbitrary targets set in Canberra.

What does this mean for ordinary Australians? These costs don't stop with businesses. They flow directly to families and workers in the form of higher prices and fewer opportunities. Electricity, construction materials, fuel and everyday goods are becoming more expensive as compliance costs rise. While our international competitors continue to produce without these burdens, this government is making it harder to build, mine and manufacture at home. The safeguard mechanism isn't safeguarding our economy; it's undermining it—one compliance bill at a time. Under this government, 8,000 manufacturing jobs have vanished. Jobs are being exported, and Australians are left to pay the price of bad policy.

Australians are good stewards of the land. We believe in sustainability. What we don't believe in is self-sabotage—nor in hollow slogans about 'free energy' that costs trillions. When will Labor finally do the maths on their net zero targets? This no longer stacks up.