Speeches

Mr O’DOWD (Flynn): My question is to the Minister for Resources and Water. Will the minister update the House on how the strength of the Australian resources and energy sector and how our plans for a stronger Australia have and will continue to benefit regional Australia in this year’s budget. Is the minister aware of any alternative policy approaches?

Mr PITT: I knew that if I waited long enough the opportunity would come, I knew if I waited long enough there’d be a purpose and I knew if I waited long enough it would provide something useful. It’s finally happened, and I’ve got to thank the Deputy Leader of the Opposition: I’ve found a purpose for Twitter. The claims by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition about apprentices and trainees, I knew I’d heard before. An ABC fact check on Twitter classifies it as a four-letter word: spin.

Mr O’DOWD: My question is to the Minister for Resources and Water. Will the minister provide an update on the strength of our resources sector under the management of the Morrison-Joyce government and what this means to regional communities like mine? Is the minister aware of alternative and uncertain policy approaches that may put local jobs in the regional communities at risk?

Mr O’DOWD: My question is to the Minister of Resources and Water. Will the Minister outline to the House how the Morrison-Joyce government is ensuring a secure supply of affordable gas supplies for Australian manufacturers while assisting our friends and allies to meet their energy needs? Is the Minister aware of any alternative policies?

Mr BANDT: My question is to the Prime Minister. This week in estimates, government officials confirmed that projections for emissions from the enormous Beetaloo methane gas basin have increased by a whopping 5,000 per cent, and this is before any of the gas is even burnt. Prime Minister, why are you continuing to push ahead with this giant climate bomb? If the 114 new coal and gas mines proposed by Liberal and Labor government go ahead, we will blow any chance of meeting even your weak climate targets, so will you back the Greens’ call for a moratorium on new coal and gas mines?

Mr PITT: They’ve heard it all before, I have to say. This mob have got form. The Australian people know exactly what would happen if they came to government in a Labor-Greens alliance. I rarely get an opportunity to talk about my local electorate and doing our job and what it means for the people whom I represent, and I want to talk for a little piece just about what happens locally.

Mr PITT (Hinkler—Minister for Resources and Water) (15:54): The Leader of the Opposition always wants to talk about ‘pretenders’, but he wants to pretend that facts don’t exist—that it’s all about feelings and not about facts.

Mr RICK WILSON: My question is to the Minister for Resources and Water. Will the minister provide an update on the progress of important job and wealth-creating resource projects in Western Australia and outline what this will mean for the community I represent and for our economy as it recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic? Is the minister aware of any alternative policies?

Ms MADELEINE KING: My question is to the Minister for Resources and Water. Yesterday the member for Mallee said about solar panels:
They don’t work in the dark, and neither do our wind farms.
Does the minister agree?

Mr COULTON (Parkes): My question is also to the Minister for Resources and Water. Will the minister inform the House how the Morrison-Joyce government is positioning Australia as a leading supplier of critical minerals and rare earth elements to meet the growing global demand for the new energy technologies required in a modern economy, and what will this mean for the communities in the Parkes electorate? Is the minister aware of any alternative policies?

Mr PITT : I come back to what’s in the title of the MPI. This is the allegation from those opposite: neglect of regional Australians and a misuse of taxpayers’ money. Let’s have a look at what’s actually happened in my electorate and let’s see them defend some of those things.

Mr CONROY: My question is to the Minister for Resources and Water. Can the minister confirm he traded away his opposition to net zero for the resources sector for a cabinet promotion with extra salary? Why is it about your job, not regional jobs?

Mr ALBANESE: My question is to the Minister for Resources and Water. Last week, the minister told question time: ‘Find me a solar panel that works in the dark.’ Is the minister aware that batteries can store renewable energy? And does the minister get a shock when he turns on the tap and water comes out, even though it’s not raining outside?

Mr BOWEN: My question is to the Minister for Resources and Water. Does the minister agree with the New South Wales Treasurer, who said yesterday:
We have some of the best renewable resources anywhere on the planet. Those renewable energy resources can be used to create heavy industry, used to support things like green aluminium and green steel and provide the world’s energy needs in—
a low carbon—
…future.

Ms SWANSON: My question is to the Minister for Resources and Water. BHP, Rio Tinto, Santos, BP and the Minerals Council of Australia all back a commitment to net zero emissions. Does the minister for resources back a commitment to net zero by 2050?

Mr STEPHEN JONES: My question is for the Minister for Resources and Water. What does the government’s modelling show is the economic impact of a commitment to net zero by 2050 for the resources sector?

Mrs ELLIOT: My question is to the Minister for Resources and Water. Does the minister still believe wind, solar and battery technology don’t work and that investment in renewable energy delivers little more than a warm and fuzzy feeling?

Ms MADELEINE KING: My question is to the Minister for Resources and Water. Does the minister support the government providing a $250 billion loan and insurance facility for the resources sector?

Mr PITT: Just to be clear, I won’t be resigning, even though it’s been suggested by the opposition. I get on very well with the shadow minister. She’s actually got her head screwed on, and she understands the industry. She’s across a lot of the brief, and of course there are many things on which we work collegially and we certainly get some good outcomes. In terms of this MPI, I’ll go through the issues, particularly the ones that have been raised, but I do want to bring the focus back to the individuals that work in the sector.

Mr CONAGHAN (Cowper): My question is to the Minister for Resources and Water. Will the minister update the House on how the Morrison-Joyce government is sticking to the national plan and supporting the resources sector in taking advantage of increasing demand for Australian minerals, as we safely reopen? And is the minister aware of any alternative policy approaches?

Mr PITT: I love following the Member for Watson. He’s got a bit of showmanship about him. In some of the workplaces I’ve come from he’d probably get the nickname ‘show bag’, but you can’t have everything!

Mr O’DOWD: My question is to the Minister for Resources and Water. Will the minister update the House on how the Morrison-Joyce government’s commitment to sticking to the national plan will help sectors like the resource sector safely reopen and on what opportunities exist for communities such as mine in Flynn? Is the minister aware of any alternative policy approaches?

Mr CHRISTENSEN: My question is to the Minister for Resources and Water. Minister, will you update the House on how the Morrison-Joyce government is creating jobs in regional communities by undertaking reforms to remove regulation duplication? Is the minister aware of any alternatives?

Mr PITT: It’s not often I get the opportunity to say thank you to the member for Ballarat for opening up a debate like this and, in particular, mentioning something within my portfolio, which is the Beetaloo basin. We know those opposite will go to any lengths to look for mud. They’ll turn over every rock, open every cupboard, go to every dark space. I can say to those opposite: you are barking up the wrong tree. You are barking mad if you think there is an issue in terms of the Beetaloo basin and the support that we are providing. So I say to the member of Ballarat, and I say it here and say it publicly: if you have an allegation to make, step up. There’s a press gallery just over there looking for a story. Step up to them, make the allegation, and say what it is you are trying to intimate.

Mr RICK WILSON (O’Connor): My question is to the Minister for Resources and Water. Will the minister update the House on the strength of the resources sector and the plan that Morrison-Joyce government is implementing to streamline and cut red and green tape through reform so we can create more jobs and support regional communities like those across my electorate of O’Connor? Is the minister aware of any alternative approaches?

Mr PITT: I always enjoy coming to a debate led by the member for Shortland. The member for Shortland is always focused and he’s passionate and he’s disassociated from reality—and he’s also wrong. These are the challenges for the member for Shortland.

Mr O’DOWD (Flynn—Deputy Nationals Whip) (14:59): My question is to the Minister for Resources and Water. Will the minister inform the House how the Morrison government is positioning Australia as a leading supplier of critical minerals and rare earth elements to meet the growing global demand for the new energy technologies required in a modern economy? Is the minister aware of any alternative approaches?

Ms BUTLER: My question is to the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia. When did the minister first become aware of the National Party’s plot to shred the Murray-Darling Basin Plan?

Mr O’DOWD: My question is to the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia. Will the minister update the House on the Morrison-Joyce government’s plans to cut red tape and green tape in the resource sector, creating jobs and supporting regional communities?

Mr THOMPSON: My question is to the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia. Will the minister update the House on the strength of the resource sector and the plan the Morrison government is implementing to streamline and cut random green tape, creating jobs in regional communities? Is the minister aware of any alternative approaches?