Senator REYNOLDS (Western Australia) (16:01): I too rise to speak on this matter of public importance. I have to say up-front that I could not agree more with the topic and with the need to take effective action on climate change. I am sure everybody in this chamber wants to leave the world and our environment in a better state than we inherited it. The simple fact is that this government is taking effective action that, no matter how much those on the other side hate to acknowledge, is making a real difference.

While we agree in this place on the need to improve our environment and to leave the world in a better state than we found it, what we very clearly do not agree on is how to achieve that goal. We on this side believe in practical solutions, versus those on the other side who have fanciful policies and a lot of rhetoric but very little substance and very few gains. For example, Labor’s most recent emissions reduction plan, so to speak, is quite simply a flight of fancy, even under their own costings. If ever imposed, which clearly it never would be, it would kill our Australian economy. In contrast, this government is taking real and direct action to protect our environment without destroying the economy but instead contributing to it. Our practical, realistic climate change policies and emission reduction targets, in contrast to Labor’s record when in government, are actually working. They are demonstrably working.

Australia is the 12th largest economy in the world, and yet we are only responsible for 1.5 per cent of global emissions. Here is the kicker for those on the other side, which they will never acknowledge, and it is a fact that they hate: Australia is currently on track to beat our 2020 emissions reduction target by 28 million tonnes, and our policies will ensure that we are able to meet the 2030 target of 26 to 28 per cent.

Senator Lines: That’s because you are cheating with the way you are counting. It is clever accounting!

Senator REYNOLDS: Those opposite may want to interject, but that is a fact. That is a demonstrable fact. I will say it again for the benefit of those here. We are currently ahead of our 2020 target by over 28 million tonnes, and we are well on track for our 2030 objectives. Despite all of the rhetoric and all of the marches and demonstrations they organise, the fact is that our policies are working.

Our target, unlike that of those opposite, is responsible. Our focus is on direct action—not talking about making changes. We are getting out in the Australian community, the Australian environment and the economy and implementing policies that actually work. In fact, the target we are taking this week to the Paris climate talks is, per capita, the second highest and second most ambitious of any G20 country. You might shake your head over there, Senator Lines, but it is true.

Senator Lines: I do shake my head! It is clever accounting!

Senator REYNOLDS: You might not like it, and you might not like the fact that those on this side are implementing—

The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Back ): Direct your comments through the chair, Senator Reynolds.

Senator REYNOLDS: Apologies, I will refer my comments through the chair. That is what they cannot stand—that we are implementing policies that are actually working. Let’s put the rhetoric aside and look at some of the demonstrable facts. The Emissions Reduction Fund has so far contracted 92.8 million tonnes of carbon reduction for an average price of $13.12 per tonne—nearly half of what a tonne of carbon abatement cost under the previous Labor government. Despite all of the rhetorical flourishes and everything that has been said in this chamber by those opposite, the Emissions Reduction Fund is working, and it is backed by Australian businesses. In fact, it has been so successful that there are currently 500 projects underway that are registered under the fund, and we expect this success to continue, all at a fraction of the cost of Labor’s carbon tax.

Our other Direct Action policies, including the National Energy Productivity Plan to improve energy productivity by 40 per cent by 2030, are realistic, practical and deliverable policies for Australia. We also want to use our energy more efficiently, not put up the prices of electricity and other consumer costs as happened under Labor. So this week at the Paris climate conference the Prime Minister, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for the Environment will send a clear message to the world that Australia is serious about addressing climate change. Again, that is in stark contrast to those opposite. This government is actually ensuring that Australia pulls its weight on the international stage when it comes to mitigating the effects of climate change. We are achieving real and significant emissions reductions, at around one per cent of the cost of Labor’s carbon tax. I will say that again: we are making real change and reductions, at one per cent of the cost of the carbon tax which Labor imposed on the economy. We have actually implemented policies that are working and are on target to meet our goals.

What do we get from the Leader of the Opposition? The Labor Party has had five different carbon tax policies in five years. The Leader of the Opposition cannot make up his mind. First he promised to abolish a carbon tax, then he voted to keep it and now he wants to bring it back—which, inevitably, would see electricity prices skyrocket again. Even worse is the Greens policy. Fairly typically, it has been put forward with little or no thought as to how it would work in the real world. They want emissions reductions of 60 to 80 per cent by 2030. Not only is not just unrealistic; it is not credible, and it would simply kill the economy if it were ever introduced—and with the economy goes jobs.

Under Labor’s previous carbon tax, under their own figures, Australia would have experienced a rise in carbon emissions from 578 million tonnes to 621 million tonnes per annum by 2020—all of that at a cost of $9 billion to Australian industry and Australian workers. So, not only was their policy, by their own projections, going to increase carbon emissions; it was killing the economy, and it was not working. Couple the carbon tax debacle with other flip-flops and failures in implementing environment policy. Remember, they scrapped solar projects, they botched the integration of renewable energy into the grid and they wasted millions of dollars on stop-start funding for so-called green initiatives before a lot of these initiatives even got off the ground. And that continues today. Their ideological blindness is blocking the Carmichael mine. The practical consequence of that for the environment is that if India does not get our cleaner coal it will have to turn to other countries for much dirtier coal. That will inevitably increase pollution across the Subcontinent and also increase carbon emissions, not decrease them. The truth is that coal will remain a part of the energy mix into the future and will play an important role in alleviating poverty in developing economies.

How does all this contrast with the government’s record? We are providing $15 billion in support of renewable energy. If you listened only to those opposite, you would think we were not doing anything for renewables, but of course we are: $15 billion worth of investments into renewables. We are establishing the Office of Climate Change and Renewables Innovation to bring a new focus to the role of innovation in the future of energy technology. As anybody who has had anything to do with the sector knows, more innovation is required in order to generate more and more baseload power. Australia has a strong record on renewable energy, and this government is committed to improving on it. We are supporting Australian households to reduce their electricity bills by further investing in rooftop solar energy. In Australia we now have the highest proportion of households with rooftop solar panels in the world, at about 15 per cent, and this government’s support for rooftop solar will see more than 23 per cent of Australia’s electricity coming from renewable sources by 2020—a doubling of large-scale renewable energy over the next five years.

So, despite everything that is said by those opposite, we are supporting and actually implementing policies that are demonstrably working, and we are putting a lot of investment into renewables and particularly into finding new and innovative ways of producing renewable energy. The fact is that this government is implementing ambitious but achievable emissions reductions targets under Direct Action— (Time expired)