Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Naturally, I rise to oppose this motion. The Nationals and One Nation are now competing to see who gets to drive the clown car of climate denial. They're railing against net zero by 2050—25 years away!—when the actual scientists are saying that we need to get to net zero in 10 years time, not in 25 years time, in order to have a safe climate future. Ordinary people who are experiencing the droughts, the fires, the floods and their house insurance skyrocketing see the link between climate action and the natural disasters that are driving up the cost of living and wrecking nature. Every day that we don't act to reduce climate pollution, the more it will cost us and the harder it will be to make that transition that we need for a safe climate future. The cheapest and the most effective time to act is now.

And most farmers know that. Farmers are on the front line of the climate crisis. They're already the first and the hardest hit, along with the fishing industry and the insurance industry and anyone who works outside in the punishing heat. Government agency ABARES has already calculated that farmers have lost a ton of money from climate. ABARES says that, in the last 25 years, average broadacre farm profits are down 22 per cent. Those losses have been worst in the cropping sector, reducing average profits by 35 per cent or $71,000 for a typical cropping farm. The Nationals and One Nation's climate denial would see farmers lose even more money while coal and gas companies laugh all the way to the bank. The Liberals are having a policy review. They don't even know what they think, but you can be damn sure that they'll back coal and gas. And Labor keeps on approving new coal and gas, which undermines their important investment in renewables.

Emissions are not coming down in Australia, with 10 years of denial from a coalition government and three years of Labor approving or extending new coal and gas, including approving Woodside's dirty gas project all the way out to 2070 as their first action after their re-election. They can't even bring themselves to admit that the marine heatwave and upstream inundation that is driving the algal bloom in South Australia is climate driven. It's going to be households, nature, farmers and industry that pay the price for continued climate inaction. Soon we'll have to set our 2035 targets. The science says to keep below two degrees, to have that safe climate future, we need net zero emissions by 2035. Australia still is the world's second-biggest fossil fuel exporter. We've got to do our fair share to limit global warming to under two degrees.

Warwick Stacey (NSW, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australia is beginning to recognise the folly of net zero. Pauline Hanson's One Nation continues to provide leadership on this issue. We have championed this cause, and we continue to be a voice for working Australians. The government has given us weasel words and hides behind opaque language. An example of this was made by the Treasurer at the National Press Club recently when he said:

The global net zero transition will also reshape our revenue from resources.

While he declined to say so, we can only assume that 'the global net zero transition' means the elimination of fossil fuels. We can only assume that by 'resources' he means Australian coal and liquefied natural gas. In terms of his reference to revenue, the Treasurer means $160 billion of income generated by Australian coal and liquid natural gas exports.

Coal and LNG royalties for both state and federal governments amounted to about $28 billion in the financial year to 30 June 2024. This revenue is fundamental to the health of our economy and fundamental to Australian wealth. It represents jobs and a huge source of tax revenue for the government. This revenue would stop dead should we transition to a future without fossil fuels. This would wreck our economy, cost jobs and increase the cost of living for Australians. While the Treasurer has suggested this is a mere 'reshaping', this is a deliberate effort to disguise what would amount to a wrecking ball being taken to the Australian economy. If the Treasurer had wanted to be honest and straightforward about his true intentions, he would not have said:

The global net zero transition will also reshape our revenue from resources.

He would instead have said something along the lines of: 'Australia will eliminate fossil fuels and will no longer export coal and gas. This will wreak complete havoc on our economy, add to the queues of the unemployed and increase the cost of living for all Australians.' This kind of plain speech would have exposed the net zero agenda for what it is: an economic catastrophe for Australia for ideological reasons. The continued pursuit of net zero will inevitably mean that taxes will be raised and services will be cut.

Energy is the essential resource, as everything else in our economy depends on it. Its price and availability impact the price and availability of literally everything else. There is also an uncontroversial link between productivity and cheap, abundant power, which the government appears unwilling to acknowledge. The demand for affordable energy has never been higher. In 2024 the world burnt more coal, oil and gas than in any previous year, surpassing all previous records. Eighty-two per cent of the world's total primary energy demand is met by fossil fuels. Wind and solar are not feasible replacements for this demand and merely work as an add-on to fossil-fuel-generated baseload power. These numbers demonstrate that there is no true global net zero transition and no evolution away from fossil fuels.

Trillions of dollars have been wasted in the quest for net zero, and this policy is a complete failure. One Nation has been the thought leader on this issue and maintains that it will not be long before people in this place must stop pretending that net zero is achievable. Net zero represents a deliberate act of self-harm. Its only reality is a net zero benefit to the planet.

Charlotte Walker (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I note that this is not my first speech. Well, all I can say is: are you kidding? I speak not only for myself but as an advocate for younger Australians, who are facing an uncertain future. The motion put forward by Senator Hanson to scrap net zero indicates a severe lack of knowledge and a complete disregard for the future of our generation and the future of our country. Without a net zero target, there will be no Australian farmers, businesses or industries to support us. Net zero means waking up to a reality that Senator Hanson has not been able to grasp. In fact, Senator Hanson seems to be hell bent on exacerbating all of the consequences of climate change we have been warned about, all of the consequences that we are already seeing.

Climate change is impacting our environment now. I come from a farming community. I studied agriculture in high school. No sector should be more concerned about climate change than our agricultural industries, and no communities should be more concerned than our regional communities. Climate change is affecting our farmers and their livelihoods now.

In my home state of South Australia, we are seeing a once virtually pristine beach being ravaged by an algal bloom, with over 400 different species dying and being washed up on our beaches. We are holding our breath, hoping that the current, cooler weather will help cool the ocean and break up the bloom, which is threatening our thriving aquaculture. This bloom is the product of sea temperatures that have been about 2.5 degrees warmer than usual. This is one of the many unprecedented and extreme weather events that are directly attributable to global warming.

And it is happening on land too. Just last week, Need for Feed Australia sent truckloads of bales of hay to South Australian farmers, who are experiencing severe drought conditions, whilst in the eastern states we are seeing farmlands ravaged by extreme floods. Again, these are extreme weather events that are a direct consequence of global warming. It is agreed by scientists around the world that net zero is essential to combating this threat.

But our net zero target is also an economic driver. We aren't trading off, as Senator Hanson seems to believe. Renewables are the path to cheaper and more reliable power generation. We are absolutely committed to reaching 82 per cent renewable energy by 2030. We are investing in renewables in ways that also provide real economic benefits and cost-of-living relief. Senator Hanson is clearly out of touch with Australians, who are taking up renewables with gusto because they want to cut both emissions and their power bills.

One in three Australian households now have solar panels on their property. Due to our Cheaper Home Batteries Program, we expect to have one million new batteries in Australian homes by 2030. Clean energy is undeniably an economic driver too, with global investment of $2.2 trillion just this year in clean energy worldwide—double the amount going to fossil fuels.

In China, clean energy now drives 20 per cent of GDP growth. Clean energy is about economic competitiveness. However, our future without renewables is much more economically precarious. Australians are currently paying the price for an energy system built on unreliable, aging energy infrastructure. These old power sources are way too financially exposed to the forever unpredictable global fossil fuel market, meaning Australian consumers are way too exposed to power-cost hikes. I am deeply disappointed that the coalition has decided to be led by One Nation on an issue as important as this one. Imagine not being able to grasp that our target for net zero emissions will positively impact Australian families, farmers and businesses.

Net zero is about ensuring future agricultural viability, it's about economic competitiveness, it's a social justice issue and it's about intergenerational climate justice. I don't apologise for caring about these things, and that's the position of the vast majority of my generation. We are not fooled by the talk of expensive nuclear energy plants being built on a never-never timeframe with technology that isn't even fully developed yet. (Time expired)

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I should note that, in relation to nuclear power, we're the only OECD country in the world that doesn't have nuclear power for energy production. The coalition is following its own processes.

Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It sure is!

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's following its own processes with respect to the review of its policies relating to energy and emissions reduction. The coalition will not be diverted from that process—by Senator Ayres or anyone else in this chamber or outside of the coalition. It is absolutely crucial that the coalition, following the last election, engages in a considered and thoughtful review of all of the policies which it took to the last election, including policies relating to energy and emissions reduction. The coalition have been absolutely transparent with the Australian people that we are going through that policy review process—that, also, is fit and proper.

With respect to that review process, the coalition has set up a working group, reporting directly to the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Nationals. I am very, very pleased that my colleague in the other place Dan Tehan MP has the carriage of that process. Assisting Mr Tehan in relation to that process is a committee comprising a combination of members of the coalition, including the shadow Treasurer, Ted O'Brien; Senator Susan McDonald in relation to resources; Alex Hawke MP in relation to industry; Angie Bell in relation to environmental matters; and shadow assistant ministers Senator Dean Smith and my good friend and colleague Andrew Wilcox MP from Queensland.

The coalition will not be diverted or distracted from that policy review process. That policy review process provides an opportunity for every single coalition senator and every single coalition MP to have their say and for their say to be considered as part of that process, as the coalition settles its suite of policies to take to the next election.

Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Every senator has been listened to in silence through this debate. I expect that that will continue as we listen to Senator Roberts.

Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To get to what matters most in this debate over net zero, we just have to ask Australians some simple questions: is your life more affordable or more expensive over the last five years? Are you paying more or less for groceries? Is your power bill cheaper? How about the cost of a new car—how about your insurance premiums? Has your salary increased more than inflation? The answers are almost the same. It hasn't gotten better; it's far worse. All of these problems Australia is suffering from can be traced back directly to net zero policies.

This isn't just a culture war, as some people try to write it off as; this is a fight for the survival and prosperity of all Australians. This is a fight to restore our country's position as the envy of the world. Australia is the richest country in the world for resources. We have abundant energy resources. Australia is awash with vast amounts of proven coal, oil, natural gas, uranium, rare earths and critical minerals. We should have the cheapest power prices in the world, yet we pay more for electricity than the countries to which we sell our resources. Back in 2004, the energy white paper proudly boasted Australia's average price of electricity as being just a touch over 4c a kilowatt hour—amongst the cheapest in the world. Now the average is 33c a kilowatt hour, just 20 years later. Japan imports most of its energy resources from Australia. Japan's electricity used to be four times more expensive than Australia's. Now, ours is 20 per cent more expensive than Japan's—all because of net zero. Thank you so much!

We don't make Fords, Holdens, Toyotas or Mitsubishis in this country anymore, because of net zero. Our steel mills, like the one in Whyalla, are going broke because of net zero. The copper smelters, like the one in Mount Isa, are shutting down because of net zero. Chocolate-maker Cadbury have said they may have to pull out of Australia because it has become undeniably expensive to manufacture in Australia. In the words of Matt Barrie, 'Australia is about to be a country that cannot make a chocolate bar'—because of net zero.

Wind and solar pushers have been promising Australia that it's the cheapest way to go. They've been saying it for 25 years, since the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act was implemented in the year 2000, under John Howard, yet here we are today, facing desolation. With the largest amount of wind, solar, batteries and pumped hydro on the grid than ever in recorded history, life has only gotten more expensive. As the solar, wind, batteries and pumped hydro increase, electricity costs increase. This is the experience of every country that has gone down the path of net zero. As electricity gets more expensive, good jobs in manufacturing are getting shipped overseas and life gets worse for that country.

Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the urgency motion moved by Senator Hanson be agreed to.