Hollie Hughes (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It says an awful lot about this new government that on a day when inflation has now risen to 6.1 per cent—the highest in decades—their priority is to legislate an emissions reduction target. They are more focused on handing power to bureaucrats, creating a lawyer's picnic, putting in legislation that will tie Australia's hands behind its back when competing on the international stage and pushing up power prices. On a day that inflation rises to its highest level in decades, at a time when Australian families are feeling the pinch every which way they turn, this government is focused on what is fundamentally a virtue signal that will punish everyday Australians and Australian businesses.

To reach this emissions target we will need to shut down every coal-fired power station in this country. In light of the war in Ukraine, the German Greens are leading the way in Germany with the fact that, to ensure that they have affordable, reliable, dispatchable power, they are turning back to coal-fired power generation. We have some of the best coal in the world here. We can create jobs. We can increase our mining sector. We can help bolster our coal-fired power generation, and we can help everyday Australians and make sure they can turn the dishwasher on after six pm.

Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Hey Hollie, are you going to run in Wentworth? Are you going to run in North Sydney?

David Fawcett (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Hughes will resume her seat. Interjections are disorderly. The Albanese government said that this is going to be a new parliament with a new approach. I'd encourage you and all senators to follow that advice. We have rules here so that people with different views can be heard in a respectful environment.

Hollie Hughes (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I know Senator Chisholm would miss me too much if I wasn't in the Senate, so I promise I'll stay for him. We want Australia to be able to pay the bills, put petrol in their cars, put food on their tables and make sure they can keep the lights on. (Time expired)