Andrew Bragg (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Housing and Homelessness) Share this | Hansard source

There is one clear fact that comes out of this crisis, and that is that Australia is massively underprepared for what are very dangerous times. We live in extremely dangerous times, where we have a slew of countries that hate our democratic traditions and hate our free societies. Do you know what the best insurance policy for dangerous times would have been? An abundance of energy, all forms of energy—all the stuff that is underneath our feet in this country or even in the sun above us. We should have had an abundance of energy, because this is going to be a massive race over the next 20 or 30 years, as to who can get the most energy. It is an insane position for Australia to be a massive exporter of fossil fuels but not use them ourselves, just as it is insane for Australia not to be able to use renewables on an industrial scale just as we do in households. So we need more of everything, but this government has had no plan to protect Australia against the disruption that we now see in the Middle East, which was entirely predictable.

I want to touch on this oil issue because I think it is a matter of great public importance. We should have been able to get oil out of the ground. We have 42 years of oil in this country underneath our feet, but we haven't been able to get to it, because of the crazy environmental laws, under which it takes up to eight years to get an approval. Most companies, most people, would give up. It's amazing that some companies have pursued their oil and gas developments on the North West Shelf and the Browse. It's amazing that they were prepared to go with it—incredible. But it raises the question about the viability of future projects. The fact that we haven't been able to get oil out of the ground really does concern me. It concerns me that now developments like the Taroom Trough might not be expedited as they should be. Most people would look at this and say, 'We need a lot of oil because we have petrol and diesel cars and vehicles needed for primary production and other reasons, and we're importing it all.' There's nothing wrong with importing things, but, on an industrial scale like this, it's insane when you've actually got the resources yourself. There is this bizarre purity test people want to impose on politicians as to what sort of energy sources they like. Well, I like everything. I want to see more renewables, and I want to see more fossil fuels, because that's power, and, right now, that's the best form of insurance.

Mr Albanese and Mr Murray Watt declared themselves the kings of the environment when they passed the environmental laws through their deal with the Greens. That was six months ago. They promised we'd be able to get more approvals for major projects, including energy production, and, after six months, we have seen nothing. We saw a shell of a bill passed through this joint, and then, after that, we saw a proposal that maybe we'd see a few draft regulations. Fill in the detail as you go! Just write on the pieces of paper, and then make the rules one day and change them the next day! That's a good way to do business, isn't it? The guts of this proposal is in bilateral deals between the Commonwealth and the states. How many of those have been done? How many do you think have been done, Deputy President? There are eight states and territories. Guess how many he has done? He has done none. He is on a duck. He has done no bilateral deals with the states and territories. So the guts and the promise of the environmental laws that were supposed to make it easier to get stuff done will never be delivered under this minister, Minister Watt, who is a good politician but seemingly a bad administrator, like the rest of this government, which has left Australia totally underprepared for this crisis.

I say to you, Deputy President, there is no guarantee about prosperity. There's no guarantee, because we need a lot of capital, and we need a lot of help if we're going to get this stuff out of the ground and we're going to actually make the most of our natural resources, whether they be renewable or fossil fuels. We need clear thinking, and we need clear laws where people know what they can and what they can't do. Right now, there's no chance of people having any idea what the hell they're allowed to do under this boondoggle of an environmental law system brought to you by Minister Watt.

The other thing we don't need is more taxes. If you entertain this crazy, populist view, this gimmicky idea, that more tax will bring you more energy or more tax will bring you more houses, then you may as well and go and live under a mushroom somewhere, because none of these things are going to do any good for the country. This just reminds me again of how badly we are serving the Australian people. No wonder people hate politicians.