My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Senator Ayres. I met with ActionAid advocates this morning, who raised some serious concerns. With every degree of global warming, women around the world pay the heaviest price, losing livelihoods as droughts and floods destroy crops, facing greater food insecurity and experiencing high rates of domestic violence in the wake of climate driven disasters. Australia is set to preside over the COP31 negotiations at this critical moment, yet modelling shows that we're tracking to just 53 per cent renewables by 2030, nearly 30 per cent short of the government's own target, raising questions about our credibility to lead. Minister, what commitments will the government put forward to ensure climate action and women's welfare are treated as inherently connected throughout Australia's presidency?

Thank you to Senator Payman for that question. It is true that climate change and the impact of climate change is particularly bad for our region and for Australia, and it does have and will have a disproportionate effect in our region. Beyond the impacts on Australia, where our climate is more vulnerable and our agriculture is more vulnerable, it will have impacts throughout the broader region, beyond the Pacific, that particularly are felt by lower income households and by families, and, as you pointed out in your question, inevitably that means a disproportionate effect on women in the region.

Particularly for Australia, that impact in the Pacific, in those countries that are our neighbours, and in our region, not only is inextricably linked with welfare, social equity and environmental concerns but also goes fundamentally to our security and the security of our region. I think that point has been misunderstood—or wilfully misunderstood—by the Liberals, the Nationals and One Nation, who refuse to grapple with the challenge this presents not just for Australia but for our security and the security of the peoples of our region.

Senator Payman, first supplementary.

Minister, you didn't answer my question, but we'll go to the supplementary. Women and children are up to 14 times more likely to die in a climate disaster. Will the government commit to a climate finance framework at COP31 that prioritises gender-transformative, locally led programming so that funding actually reaches the women who are bearing the brunt of this crisis?

All I can say at this stage is that the government is developing and will develop the approach that we take to this round of climate negotiations in Australia's national interest. The construction of our national interest also involves considering our security and the security in our region. It also involves making sure we secure Australia's competitive advantage in energy and in re-industrialising our economy and making sure we deliver a safer and more prosperous Australia for the future. The alternative view is laid bare every time the uniparty of the Liberals, One Nation and the Nationals engage on these questions.

Senator Payman, second supplementary.

Minister, Australia's climate finance currently sits, on average, at just $27 per person, compared with $52 per person in the UK and $72 per person in Germany. Will the government commit to closing that gap and scaling our climate finance to meet the growing demand?

It is true, Senator Payman, that, globally, clean energy investment hit more than $2 trillion in 2025. That is where, for industry in Australia, competing for that investment to deliver outcomes like the outcome we've delivered in Tomago Aluminium is directly relevant to the future of blue-collar jobs in Australia. Rio Tinto, one of the owners of Tomago Aluminium, are not hippies; you couldn't possibly imagine them to be. But they made it very clear: coal-fired power is the problem for that industrial facility. Senator Canavan's and Mr Hastie's approach would close Tomago in a heartbeat—tomorrow—if they were ever in charge of our approach on energy. The company made it very clear: coal-fired power is the problem. Why is Senator Canavan proposing to close Tomago Aluminium? (Time expired)