Mr MORRISON (Cook—Prime Minister) (09:31): I move:

That this House commemorate the anniversary of the national apology to the survivors and victims of institutional child sexual abuse.

Three years ago tomorrow, this parliament, on behalf of all Australians, offered an unconditional apology to the victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. Our national apologies have always been days of reckoning. Those days of reckoning have become, importantly, part of our national story: the apology to the stolen generations—an apology for the racism, cruelties and injustices inflicted on our First Nations peoples; the apology for forced adoptions—an apology for the shame and the stigma and the brutality that forcibly split parents from their children; and the apology to the forgotten Australians and former child migrants—an apology for the unconscionable cruelties experienced by children removed from their families and placed in institutional homes. The apologies reflect our acknowledgement of our failures as a people. As a liberal democratic people, we aren't afraid of our history, nor do we recoil from engaging with terrible truths.

Truth was always at the heart of the apology to victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. This is what the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, initiated by Prime Minister Gillard, was all about, with thousands of people coming forward and sharing their painful experiences, bringing into the light what had been in the darkness. In private sessions with the royal commission, 8,000 women, men and young people recounted their abuse. A further 1,000 gave written accounts. As well, the royal commission received 26,000 letters and emails and 42,000 phone calls. To the thousands who came forward and the thousands who could not, this parliament said, 'We believe you, and the country believes you.' Our apology didn't, and cannot, undo our national failures. Nor can an apology return a lost childhood or repair the damage inflicted by the guilty or those who are complicit by their silence, but it can be a marker on a path of healing and the start of a serious attempt by our nation to make amends. Today, I am reporting further on those amends that we have been making.

The royal commission made 409 recommendations, of which 206 were directed wholly or partially at the Australian government. Eighty-four of those were about redress and led to the establishment of the National Redress Scheme, which is now in its fourth year. As of last month, over 6,200 payments have been made under the scheme, amounting to almost $535 million. The average payment is $85,000. That's $20,000 more than what the royal commission estimated. In the budget we put aside more than $80 million over the next four years to progress improvements to the National Redress Scheme, and I acknowledge the work of Minister Ruston in leading that initiative. We're committed to making it more trauma-informed, responsive and utterly and ultimately more survivor focused.

In June this year the final report of the second-year review of the scheme was published, and the government is taking initial action on 25 of its 38 recommendations. We've made available advance payments of $10,000 to survivors who are older or terminally ill. We've pushed institutions to meet their moral obligations to survivors. Those that fail to participate have already been named and will become ineligible for future Commonwealth grants. As well, they risk being stripped of their charitable status. The government will keep working through the recommendations and release a final response early next year.

Another major commitment arising from the royal commission was the establishment of a National Centre for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse. I'm pleased to announce that the Blue Knot Foundation, along with its partners the Australian Childhood Foundation and the Healing Foundation, will establish and deliver the centre. With $22½ million in Commonwealth funding, the national centre will build knowledge and expertise and raise awareness of the impacts of child sexual abuse. The voices of victims and survivors will shape their work. It will build workforce capability so that we can better respond to child and adult survivors. It will conduct research and evaluation and provide practical guides for responsive functions like help-seeking, advocacy and therapeutic treatment. The national centre will also undertake vital work to prevent child sexual abuse happening in the future.

As well, we're also going to construct a national memorial here in our nation's capital to honour victims and survivors and to remind ourselves of catastrophic failures to protect children—to make sure they do not happen again. We expect the memorial to be completed next year and to serve as a place of remembrance, reflection, truth, healing and hope.

This anniversary always requires us to reckon with our past, but it also draws our attention to the present and the very near future. Child sexual abuse is happening now. It's happening online in appalling numbers. The shocking truth is online child sexual abuse was already increasing, and it has spiked in response to the COVID-19 restrictions. It makes our response all the more urgent and our resolve all the more unshakeable.

Our enforcement, intelligence and research agencies are tasked with tracking down child sexual abuse wherever it happens. They work together on many fronts, with new and advanced technologies to deter, disrupt and prevent abuse. The Australian Federal Police, the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation and the Australian Border Force are on the front lines. Operation Arkstone is the largest-ever domestic investigation into online child sexual abuse. It continues to yield results, with more than 1,300 charges laid so far. The Australian Institute of Criminology drives national research to better understand child sexual abuse. The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission helps law enforcement agencies to respond to online child sexual abuse by linking datasets and using advanced analytics capabilities. AUSTRAC works with financial institutions to detect and disrupt payments for child abuse materials, including the disgusting practice of abuse that is live streamed. Since 2018, this partnership approach has resulted in an almost 400 per cent increase in reports of suspect financial activity around child exploitation.

AUSTRAC and the Australian Border Force have collaborated to harden the Australian border to child sex offenders. Our law enforcement agencies have partnered with the Philippines's financial intelligence unit to use information on people arrested overseas to identify previously unknown offenders based in Australia. The Department of Home Affairs is building relationships with digital industry that prevent offenders from using online platforms to groom, exploit and abuse children or share child abuse material. These and other agencies are working together and with state and territory partners to respond to child sexual abuse. We continue to work with our five-country partners to hold industry to account.

We cannot allow our digital environment to offer anonymity and impunity to offenders. It cannot shelter them. Nor can we allow it to become a prohibitively hostile and hazardous place for children to be, since so much of their learning and experience depends on being able to enter it safely—all of our children.

Next week is National Children's Week, a time to celebrate children's achievements and a call to all of us to uphold children's right to enjoy their childhood. Next week we will launch the national strategy to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse. The national strategy will be a 10-year whole-of-nation framework to establish a coordinated and consistent approach. It will deliver ambitious and world-leading measures to prevent and respond to all forms of child sexual abuse.

In May I announced a program of $146 million over four years for the national strategy's first phase, including close to $60 million worth of measures to be delivered by the Australian Federal Police. We also committed close to $14 million to equip our intelligence, research and border detection agencies to disrupt the cash flow behind child sexual abuse, to prevent and disrupt live stream child sexual abuse, to intercept material and offenders at the border and to enhance our ability to identify offenders in the community. We also committed over $27 million to support victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, expanding legal assistance to victims and survivors and co-designing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healing approaches. The full national strategy will include additional measures and further funding. My government looks forward to working with the states and territories to deliver these reforms.

Finally, at the end of this year we will table the government's fourth annual progress report against the royal commission's recommendations. These yearly reports, as well as the royal commission itself and the apology we commemorate today, are all about accountability. They are about confronting the deepest, darkest secrets in our past and, indeed, in our present, bringing that truth into the light. Two years ago on its first anniversary, we placed a parchment etched with the apology's words in the members' hall near the apologies made to the stolen generations, the forgotten Australians, to former child migrants and for the forced adoptions. These items of ceremony and suffering sit in the symbolic heart of our Australian parliament on public display because that is where they belong. As a remembrance of wrongs and our willingness to right them, they call us to our own stories and, indeed, to make better ones.

Tomorrow, as we mark this third anniversary, we commit ourselves again to honouring these lives and to the safety of all Australian children. I say to those who even today can't get out of bed, who still cannot face and who feel alone: you are not. This parliament has heard you and each year, and each day we will continue to remind you that you are heard, that you are listened to and that you are not alone. Our country understands what happened and our country wants to heal. We want to help you heal, but we know that even now you are finding that incredibly difficult, and for that we can only say to you that you are very much here with us today even if you cannot be.

I want to conclude by offering one thanks to the member for Swan. The member for Swan is retiring at the next election. There are many members in this place in the opposition ranks and government ranks for whom this has been quite a cause, but the member for Swan's passion, determination and quiet achievement in this area has been truly extraordinary. He has served his country admirably, and I thank him very much for his own personal counsel to me of this most important of issues.

Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler—Leader of the Opposition) (09:45): I begin by acknowledging that we meet on the land of the Ngunawal and Ngambri people. I want to acknowledge the survivors, those who have told their stories, those who haven't, those who never could. I want to acknowledge their families and loved ones, and I want to acknowledge the advocacy groups who have been on their side. I thank the Prime Minister for his words and the commitments that were made, which enjoy bipartisan support in this parliament.

Each year we gather together in this place to reflect on the apology that was delivered here in 2018 and, crucially, why it was delivered. As we do, it is easy to fall into familiar metaphors of darkness and shadow, but that would be a mistake because many of these violations were not hidden from view. As the royal commission so unflinchingly told us, so many childhoods were violated brazenly in the full light of knowledge and awareness, and the violators were often individuals and institutions that felt secure behind the shield of trust, confident that, in the court of credibility, they once again had the upper hand over those that they preyed upon. They acted with impunity. Betrayal was metered out in darkness and in light. Trust was destroyed in darkness and in light.

Those children who should have known nothing but love and safety were left unbelieved and unheard in darkness and in light. All around us were voices that were ignored, voices that we didn't believe and, in the end, voices that were never raised because there didn't seem to be any point. There is no greater silence than when we refuse to hear. I am reminded of the words of the extraordinary Australian of the Year, Grace Tame. Kept silent for so long, she stood before the nation when she received that great honour and she said, 'Well, hear me now.' Powerful words. One of the most powerful sentences spoken in our nation this year. I say to Ms Tame: we hear you and we thank you for your advocacy and courage. Just as we hear her, we hear so many Australians who came forward—and what a chorus it was. The royal commission was an overdue opening of our eyes and of our hearts and, so importantly, of our ears.

I will be forever proud that I was a member of the cabinet that made that decision of a royal commission. Julia Gillard has so much to be proud of from her time as Prime Minister, but setting in train this royal commission showed moral strength in the face of considerable opposition. She held her nerve and she did it. It's a reminder of what true leadership can achieve. It's also a reminder of the power of advocacy and persistence. And I thank every individual Australian and every group who pushed for it. It was the beginning of the end for the heavy, suffocating silence. Into its place, thousands of voices began to pour, and what had been a bleak void filled with a great dam burst of truth that we could no longer turn away from. Seventeen thousand survivors came forward to shatter that silence and to blunt its shards. Eight thousand shared their stories, many for the first time. More than 1,000 gave written accounts.

I often think of my friend, who travelled to Canberra to have dinner with me one night, when he told me what had happened to him as a child in the boy scouts. What will always stick with me is how he wept as he described how the opportunity to give evidence had made a difference to his life. Think about that for a moment: a life changed by being able to tell the truth; knowing that truth had at last been heard and believed. He told his family at the time and they did not believe him. A system that had failed him so miserably allowed him at last to achieve at least some justice for a childhood that had been taken from him. The courage of survivors has not lost any of its powers to humble us.

At the culmination of that royal commission we listened here to the Prime Minister and to my predecessor, the member for Maribyrnong. They said the words that demanded to be said, that so desperately needed to be heard: an apology can never undo the lifelong suffering that grows out of a childhood damaged by violence and fear; an apology can never bring back to the world those worn down by the weight of a truth borne alone, who did not live to hear the words 'We believe you.' Yet we know what a profound difference an apology can make, what a weight can be lifted by the acknowledgement of difficult truths.

The fact that survivors accepted a hand so belatedly extended will stand forever as an act of grace and deep inner strength, but that cannot be the end of it. To treat the apology as an end in itself would be a full stop at the end of a prologue, the rest of the book left unwritten. To the survivors and to the loved ones of the victims, I say: 'Yes, you had to hear the words "We hear you." Yes, you had to hear the words "We believe you." But now you have to see the actions that grow from those words. You have carried such a burden; you must not now shoulder the weight of just an empty gesture.'

What worries us is the signs that the act of apology has taken the urgency out of what must follow. Today's announcement of the National Centre for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse is very much welcome, but, of course, that fulfils a promise that was made three years ago. So we support this, but we must act with urgency; likewise with the flawed implementation of the National Redress Scheme, so complicated and slow there is an ongoing danger of survivors dying before they see a single cent, and those able to endure the process do so at the risk of being retraumatised. Labor supported the Kruk review into the scheme and we welcomed the improvements that have been made so far. We acknowledge the adoption of the early payment scheme that Labor and survivors had called for, but the clock is ticking relentlessly. Reforms need to be made with a sense of urgency, and the maximum payment for survivors should be lifted from $150,000 to $200,000. That some organisations have resisted entering the Redress Scheme is every bit as baffling as the opposition to the royal commission was. Labor supports the government in its actions against them. We can do better by listening to survivors. Survivors are willing to share what is some of the most hard-won wisdom of all. To ignore them is unconscionable. We need to make sure we get this right.

When the Australian Child Maltreatment Study is completed, in 2023, it is likely that the level of childhood trauma across the nation will be revealed to be even greater than previously captured. We must face up to the child sexual abuse that is happening now. That continues despite the steps that have already been taken to face up to past wrongs, and abusers, of course, adapt to new situations. As the eSafety Commissioner has found, children's online safety has worsened during this time of pandemic lockdowns—a shocking finding. Increases have been reported in child sexual abuse material, online grooming, activity in online abuse communities, and live streaming of abuse material. To properly protect children, we need to protect them in institutional and non-institutional settings; online as well as in the real world. We cannot lapse into apathy. That would lay the foundation stone of a future apology, albeit one that would be rightly seen as little more than a contemptible echo. Let us get this right here, now.

Many Australians continue to live with the effects of trauma—Australians who have fought to move past the confusion and shame which they should never have had to feel, who have fought to be seen and heard after being silenced in myriad ways, and who paid the price of communities and governments failing in their duty to protect our most vulnerable. Some survivors have had the courage to share their raw truth; others still feel too vulnerable and too exposed to take that step. We have made progress, but there's more work to do. Labor is fully committed to working with survivors.

Each year we return to the apology to remind ourselves of the importance of the journey that we are on. It is more a beginning than an end. We cannot stand still when the earth is shifting beneath our feet. Momentum is building, a movement so powerful it does have the feel of a seismic shift. Let there be no more phantoms and no more mirages. Let's get this right for the sake of survivors and their loved ones, for the future of all of us, as a society and a nation, and for the memories of those who never got to hear the words 'We believe you.' We owe them that much and so much more.

Debate adjourned.

Ms STEGGALL (Warringah) (10:33): by leave—I move:

That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent the private Members' business order of the day relating to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Stopping PEP11) Bill 2021 standing in the name of the Member for Warringah being called on immediately and given priority over all other business for final determination of the House.

This motion must be debated today because it deals with vital issues: climate change, environmental destruction and the fate of the economy for a significant portion of the east coast of Australia. Petroleum exploration permit 11, known as PEP-11, is a work permit granted under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006. PEP-11 covers some 4,575 square kilometres of ocean from Newcastle through the Central Coast to the iconic Manly Beach. PEP-11 comes as close as five kilometres to the shore in places. Human line of sight on the horizon is over five kilometres, so gas rigs may well be seen from our headlands and beaches. The titleholders, Advent Energy and Bounty NL, are permitted to explore for gas and oil in this area, with the aim of mining it and drilling it at a future date. Let's be clear: oil is often found alongside gas, so it is a very real prospect. This licence has been hanging over the heads of our local communities for too long.

I presented a petition to this parliament in February 2020 and have spoken numerous times in this place about the project. I have met with the Minister for Resources and Water, Minister Pitt. The community has written to and met with local MPs from both sides of the House. The New South Wales government rejected the licence last February—over a year ago. Yet Advent Energy called for tenders in June this year, issuing a tender for drilling and management services on 20 July and a letter of intent to award tenders on 14 October. As recently as 20 October, comments in the media by David Breeze, the executive director of Advent Energy, indicated that Advent has every intention to proceed with the project, dismissing concerns of local communities.

So here we are: PEP-11 is still on foot, and Minister Pitt, a Queensland Liberal-National MP, is still giving enough assurance to Advent Energy that they are seeking tenders for equipment to drill the works on PEP-11. In recent interviews it has been made clear that Advent Energy believe that the licence will be granted and extended. This raises serious concerns about who is making the decisions in this government.

This is the government's gas obsession taken to the extreme of endangering our local economies and coastline. Our local environment sustains our local economy, from coastal ecosystems, fishing, tourism and hospitality, our welfare and our health. We have seen, through the last 18 months with COVID, how important our local environment is. It has sustained us and we have been grateful, and now we urgently need to protect it. The area in and adjacent to PEP-11 is home to millions of people, a whale migration path and significant marine biodiversity. It's therefore absolutely in the public interest that this be dealt with without delay today.

With only 10 days before the conference of the parties at COP26, where global leaders will meet in Glasgow to discuss how we will mitigate the issue of our time—climate change and global warming—it is urgent that we debate a motion on a bill that will stop a major fossil fuel project. The Bureau of Meteorology has projected that on the current emissions trajectory Australia will surpass 4.4 degrees of warming in this century. We are set to reach 1.5 degrees of warming in the early 2030s. Australia will warm faster than the rest of the globe and will experience many more impacts—floods, fires, droughts and, for coastal communities, coastal erosion and cyclones. We are exposed. This is our greatest national security risk, and we are falling behind our allies in addressing it.

To avert this catastrophe, the International Energy Agency—one of the most conservative institutions—has stated that no new fossil fuel projects can be developed from this year. Yet here we are with a licence to open up gas off our coast. Oil and gas exploration risks contamination and pollution of the ocean. Our ocean is fragile and already under increasing threat from climate change and plastics pollution. We cannot and should not risk an oil spill from a drilling rig wrecking our ocean and waterways, which are some of the most unique in the world. Many will not forget the Deepwater Horizon spill that occurred in April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. Over a period of weeks it released almost 4.9 million barrels of oil into the ocean, making it the biggest oil calamity the world had ever seen. The spill extensively impacted the marine environment and did incalculable damage to the fishing and tourism industries that relied on the spill area. The areas adjacent to PEP-11 are just as exposed. Just two months ago, the world stood aghast when we saw an undersea gas pipeline leak and catch fire in the gulf yet again, literally setting the ocean alight. This is what can go wrong.

Make no mistake: undertaking oil and gas exploration risks disaster off our pristine coast. PEP-11 could devastate the environment and the economy of all areas adjacent to it. This is why this motion must be debated today, without delay, and this bill should be passed. We simply cannot allow it to proceed. The community is united in objecting to this project. We do not want it to proceed. Over 60,000 people lent their names to a petition calling for PEP-11 to be stopped. The community's wish is that PEP-11 be stopped today. I've had hundreds of emails from Warringah constituents and people up and down the coast. They're appalled that this project might still get the green light.

PEP-11 expired in February 2021, and yet it is still in force, pending the decision of Minister Pitt, as part of the joint authority, in relation to the application by the current titleholder. The first application for the suspension, extension and variation of PEP-11 was made to the joint authority some 289 days ago, and yet the New South Wales government was able to decline it in February 2020—and we are still here, waiting for a decision from the federal government. The delay in decision-making is causing considerable anxiety and distress in the communities affected by PEP-11.

This motion is to enable the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Stopping PEP11) Bill 2021 to be debated without further delay—and we should do this today. We need to act to remove the uncertainty and preclude any current and future development in the PEP-11 area. It is so important for our local communities. These communities have been battered and locked down under COVID. They need to rebuild. Our ecotourism, our tourism, our hospitality all need confidence and certainty, and having this risk hanging over them is impacting their confidence in the rebuild. It's vital that this licence be cancelled without further delay, and we must rule out any further licence being granted off our coast.

There are those who are claiming that some of the benefits of this licence will be to provide carbon capture and storage opportunities. Let's be really clear about what that is: it is a unicorn fantasy of this government that we can continue to emit and that somehow it won't matter because those rising emissions can be offset. It ignores the fact that we actually need to reduce emissions first. We can't continue the way we are. If carbon capture and storage can be developed to work then it might assist in capturing the excess that we have already put into the atmosphere, but it cannot be used to justify our continued dependence on fossil fuel. It doesn't replace the need to reduce emissions. It's already received substantial amounts of public funding to date, but let's be clear: it has failed to deliver. We cannot continue emitting in the hope that, magically, CCS will solve this problem—and I know the minister for energy is really attached to the idea that this unicorn solution will permit emissions to continue to rise. But, to protect our oceans and coastal economies and address climate change, we should deal with this bill today and we should pass this legislation.

To all those members in this place who have said that they are for climate action and who tell their constituents as much, will you now vote to debate this bill? Will you vote with your conscience? It is really important, because the time has come when communities are looking to their members of parliament for action. The actions you take on behalf of a collective, with impunity, do not excuse your personal actions. Your personal vote matters. The member for Wentworth, the member for Mackellar, the member for North Sydney and the member for Robertson have said to their communities that they oppose this project, and yet here we are: we are still in the hands of Minister Pitt. It's time to allow debate on this bill so that we can vote on it. This is a test for the government, and it's a test for those MPs. It is a test of their commitment to their communities up and down our coast.

The Prime Minister himself came to Collaroy Beach and said he opposes the project, and yet here we are: a project is still on foot, a permit holder is still proceeding, decisions are still being made and the licence is still going ahead. It begs the question: who is calling the shots in this government? If the Prime Minister has said he doesn't support this project, and yet Minister Pitt is still proceeding with it, it really begs the question: exactly who decides what is happening in this government? Who is deciding Australia's climate policy? Is there any genuine commitment to reducing emissions? These are the questions the Australian public is asking this parliament to understand how real the commitment is.

Today, this motion is a test. It is a test to see if there is a genuine desire to debate and to take action on legislation that will stop this project. We need to save our coast.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Rob Mitchell ): Is the motion seconded?

Mr CONROY (Shortland) (10:44): I proudly second this motion to suspend the standing orders. Standing orders must be suspended because my community and every community in the Hunter, Central Coast and northern Sydney regions needs certainty about this project. The licence for PEP-11 expired on 12 February. At that time Minister Pitt said that he would make a decision soon. Since that expiration my community has had 251 days of uncertainty. My community have been in agony for 251 days waiting to know whether they're going to see oil and gas rigs off their coast. We continue to have this delay and Advent Energy continue to work on the project while this uncertainty continues.

What are we talking about? We're talking about offshore oil and gas drilling rigs as close as five kilometres to our pristine coastline and five kilometres to some of the beautiful beaches in my electorate, such as Redhead Beach, endangering our environment and the tens of thousands of jobs that rely on that environment. This project risks the thousands of jobs in our tourism and hospitality industries that rely upon our coastal lifestyle. It risks the thousands of jobs in the commercial and recreational fishing industries that rely on our pristine maritime environment. It risks the beautiful beaches that we all enjoy.

Nipper season is around the corner. As thousands of kids go back into the water, including my own, I don't want them to be worried about whether this will be the last year they get to enjoy our beautiful beaches. That's why the standing orders must be suspended and why everyone in this chamber must vote in support of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Stopping PEP11) Bill 2021. Everyone in this chamber must vote in support of this bill. The members for Robertson, Mackellar, North Sydney and Wentworth profess to oppose PEP-11 but have gone missing. They say they oppose PEP-11. They need to demonstrate it by not just talking about it but by voting for the suspension of the standing orders and by forcing the government and the Prime Minister to deliver at least 26 members of their party room to allow the suspension to succeed. It's easy for them to get up and say, 'We oppose it and we'll vote for the suspension,' knowing that it will fail unless they bring 26 members of their party room with them. That's the truth.

The member for Robertson said on 24 April:

Under a Morrison Government PEP-11 will not go ahead.

The Prime Minister, Scott Morrison … said it himself while he was on the Coast this week, and he is rock solid on that decision.

I am saying no to PEP-11. The Prime Minister is saying no to PEP-11.

I look forward to the member for Robertson's remarks. Hopefully, she will get up and say that the project is dead. Unless she votes for the suspension, unless she votes for the Steggall bill and unless she brings 26 members of the government with her, they are just hollow words—hollow words from a member of the government that so far is allowing offshore oil and gas drilling off our coast. That is the truth of it.

We'll see some charades here—do they support this or do they support that? The government and Minister Pitt could kill this with the stroke of a pen. Failing that, 26 members of the government could cross the floor and vote for the suspension and then the actual bill. I hope they do. I will say to them, 'Well done,' if they do. If they don't, they will be accused of utter mendacity and hypocrisy, because there will be empty words where action is needed.

This is about the future of our coastline. This is about the future of tens of thousands of jobs in our community. I hope Minister Hawke gets up and says something positive about it. I hope Minister Hawke says that the project is now dead. Hopefully, he will kill it. Hopefully, he will convince the Nationals, who are really running this government on climate and energy policy, to do the right thing and kill the project. I'm looking for good words from him. But let's be honest about it. If they do fold, it will only be because of the pressure of members of the Labor Party and Independents and the huge community opposition to this project. That is what has delivered this opposition. That is what has delivered this campaign. That is why we are even debating this bill. I have never seen a project more opposed to by the entire community than this project. If the government does fold, if the government does surrender, that will be great. I will certainly appreciate that.

I congratulate every Labor member of parliament who has been involved in this campaign—and some of them are behind me—the member for Newcastle, the member for Paterson, the member for Dobell, the member for Kingsford Smith and the leader of the Labor Party, Anthony Albanese, who said, 'If this project is still going ahead when Labor is in government, we will kill it.' I cede the remaining five minutes of my time to the member for Dobell.

Mr HAWKE (Mitchell—Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs) (10:50): The government will oppose the suspension of standing orders, for the following reasons. Obviously we have many members here, and I've got two of my colleagues here, the member for Robertson and the member for Mackellar, who are going to speak about their serious concern about and opposition to this. There is concern about an individual project from local communities on the North Shore of Sydney and the Central Coast among members here, and the member for Warringah as well. It's quite appropriate that that be discussed and be the subject of representations to government—and it has been. But I say to the member for Warringah: if you're serious about legislating and if you are serious about doing something or changing a law, it would be incumbent upon you to go to other affected communities and local members on the North Shore. This isn't a political matter; this is a community matter, an environmental matter, and you're not in a political party, as we understand. What you should do is approach the member for Mackellar and the member for Robertson and discuss your concerns with them and seek to get some consensus about what you might want to do.

So, for today, of course the government won't proceed with the proposal by the member for Warringah to suspend standing orders. That doesn't mean that this important conversation can't continue. It will. In fact, the advocacy from the member for Mackellar and the member for Robertson is very strong. And we've heard a very significant statement of intent from the Prime Minister—the strongest statement you could get on a matter such as this—which gives the community that certainty that members here are seeking.

In balancing our environmental commitments, while protecting our marine environment and communities on coasts , we also have to recognise that we have offshore petroleum interests across the country which create jobs and wealth. They help local communities in many parts of our country. All governments have to strike balances between these things. It's appropriate for this conversation to continue. It's appropriate for us to legally look at those questions and at what can be done within the frameworks of the law. The government will continue to balance those things. It will continue to work with communities across Australia. By using activism to do something in a hasty way such as the member for Warringah is proposing today—these things can have consequences for the sovereign investment framework for Australia, for the stability of our investment profile for very important projects that we might want to continue, all around Australia, that are appropriate for those communities, that are environmentally welcomed and that are safe.

The government's got a very strong statement of intention here. The Prime Minister couldn't have been more clear. The member for Mackellar is very clear about his community, and the member for Robertson is very clear about hers, as is the member for Shortland. There is more to discuss. But I say to the member for Warringah—and I have spoken to the minister—do seek a meeting with the minister and discuss it with him if you have these concerns. Go to your local neighbours and friends in the North Shore communities. This isn't just an issue that affects the community of Warringah; it effects the entire coastline of Sydney. I do think there's a time for you to have a collegiate approach on this.

So, the government doesn't support the suspension of standing orders. I look forward to the contributions of the member for Robertson and obviously the member for Mackellar, and the government welcomes the ongoing assessment of these processes and the statement of intent that the government's put forward.

Ms McBRIDE (Dobell) (10:53): My community on the Central Coast of New South Wales is against PEP-11. People living up and down the coast, from Newcastle to Sydney, and across Australia are against PEP-11. Yet Minister Pitt still hasn't made a decision—eight months after his original deadline—and today we're told not to be hasty, and the government is gagging debate. This is a project that will devastate our coastline, our local marine life and our local economy. That's why I stand against PEP-11. That's why all my colleagues on this side of the House stand against PEP-11.

Last year, with colleagues and with members of the government as well, we met with the Surfrider Foundation to save our coast on the lawns of Parliament House, calling on this government to stop PEP-11. In February I stood with my Labor colleagues, many of whom are in the House today—the member for Newcastle, the member for Kingsford Smith, the member for Paterson and all of my colleagues up and down the coast. We stood together with Labor leader Anthony Albanese as we announced Labor's united opposition to PEP-11. In April, with Liesel Tesch, the state member for Gosford, I joined the Surfrider Foundation to save our coast, paddling out against PEP-11, with Ace Buchan, international surfing champion.

Then in August I joined a virtual town hall with advocacy groups to reaffirm my opposition to PEP-11. And I'm not the only one. In my community over 1,800 people have signed a petition to stop PEP-11 and thousands more from Newcastle, Sydney and across Australia. We know Save Our Coast has collected 77,000 signatures to stop this flawed project and this risky plan to drill for fossil fuels within PEP-11.

The opposition is across the community. Glen from Bateau Bay wrote to me: 'I have been able to raise my children here on the Central Coast, passing onto them a love for our ocean, coastline and marine life. The excitement of dolphins swimming close to them, their looks of amazement at the sight of whales fully breaching, still gives me a feeling of happiness.' Kathy from Berkeley Vale said, 'The beach is our happy place. We moved up from Sydney a few years ago and have a quieter and more relaxed life here on the coast. We love it here. For our family of five we love going to the beach. It's our way to reset.' She has echoed the views of hundreds of locals across the Central Coast.

According to the Environmental Defenders Office the PEP-11 project could see drilling commence in a world renowned whale migration route and dolphin habitat, risking devastating the marine ecosystem and exposing locals from Newcastle to Manly to the Central Coast to the prospect of petroleum spills or gas rigs just kilometres from the coastline. Locals are acutely aware of this risk. Even Ben & Jerry's have spoken against this project, making it clear they do not want this project to go ahead.

The minister has still not made a decision. The New South Wales government is opposed to PEP-11. They declared this earlier this year. The New South Wales government said they were opposed to PEP-11. As part of the joint authority Minister Pitt can make this decision with a stroke of a pen today and he's failing to do so. Minister Pitt could do this with a stroke of a pen today but he still hasn't made a decision. And now we're being told by the government that this is too hasty, that we're trying to move too quickly. This is why they're suspending debate today—more than a decade and opposition up and down the coast. This will devastate our communities, our marine life and our way of life. We're told that this is hasty, that we're moving too quickly. Do you know what the government has? A complete lack of urgency. There's a complete lack of urgency from the government. Either they don't get it or they don't care.

Members opposite can stand and speak in support of the private members' bill today but do you know what they could do? They could advocate strongly in their caucus. They could advocate for the government to make a decision today. They could call on Minister Pitt to do the right thing by our community, to do the right thing by our environment, to do the right thing by our economy and make this decision today. Members opposite, speak today, but I urge you, do the right thing. Don't say one thing in your electorate and another thing in this House. Do the right thing by our community. Make Minister Pitt make the decision that our community needs and deserves and is long overdue. You can speak up in this House and you can say another thing in your electorate. You need to do the right thing on PEP-11 for all of us and call on the minister to make a decision today. This is with the stroke of a pen. We don't need this private members' bill—although we fully support it because the government won't act. Now we're preparing for this push and we will vote for this if we get the chance to vote for it but the minister said they won't. It will be suspended. We won't get the opportunity. We will support a private members' bill to stop PEP-11. I am prepared to support this bill and so are my colleagues. But you've already adjourned the debate and now you are suspending standing orders, that's why I am urging the minister to put an end to the uncertainty for my community. He has the power to stop PEP-11 with the stroke of a pen today. Do what's right, minister. This has dragged on for too long.

Mrs WICKS (Robertson) (10:59): In rising to speak against the suspension of standing orders, I firstly want to say very loudly that I remain firmly opposed to PEP-11. However, the member for Warringah's motion, supported by members of the opposition, this morning to suspend standing orders is not the best way to achieve this outcome that they seek. Indeed, it only adds to the cacophony of confusion and misinformation that has been surrounding this issue and we all know there has been plenty of that. My colleague the minister for immigration is absolutely right. This is a community issue. It is not a political issue. Let's all work together to achieve the outcome that so many of us support.

This permit has been around for five decades, and it's been a long-running issue for communities from Manly through to the Central Coast and right up to Newcastle. Our community on the Central Coast is a sea based community, and our local beaches and our oceans are part of our way of life. That's why the Central Coast is so firmly opposed to anything that could harm our beaches or waterways, as the member for Dobell said. Our Central Coast community has spoken very loudly, and I have consulted with a wide range of local action groups. I've received countless emails, letters and messages from thousands of local residents and I joined with hundreds of them, including the member for Dobell, at a protest rally of a paddle-out at Terrigal Haven. But, as I would remind the member for Dobell, this is not a political issue; this is a community issue.

I have taken these concerns directly to the minister for resources. I have taken them directly to the Prime Minister, and the message that I got back from the Prime Minister was loud and clear—and the member for Shortland referred to it: 'Under a Morrison government, PEP-11 will not go ahead. That is a rock-solid guarantee.' That is why the motion before the House this morning really achieves nothing for communities up and down the New South Wales coast. The Prime Minister has said he thinks the right decision is to oppose the extension of the PEP-11 licence. He's clear on what his view is. I am clear on what my view is and our what our community's view is. Under a Morrison government, PEP-11 will not go ahead.

Although I acknowledge the member for Warringah's interest in PEP-11 and the support of the opposition for this motion, the decision by the Prime Minister of Australia is resolute. This issue is too important to our region to get wrong. The Prime Minister has said no to PEP-11, my community has said no to PEP-11 and I'm saying no to PEP-11. But I would remind the member for Warringah and members opposite that the best way to achieve the outcome that all of you and indeed many of us in this chamber seek is through the proper processes of government, not political stunts.

Mr THISTLETHWAITE (Kingsford Smith) (11:02): I support the motion to suspend standing orders moved by the member for Warringah, so as to debate her bill and to vote on it to kill PEP-11. This parliament can kill PEP-11 today, and we should. Petroleum export permit 11 would grant Advent Energy the option to continue to explore for gas and oil off the coast of New South Wales, all the way from the Mid North Coast to the Newcastle region. It's a ridiculous proposal. It would have a detrimental effect on our environment, and, when the economy is beginning to open again, we're potentially going to kill one of the great benefits to the New South Wales economy, our tourism industry and all of the jobs that are created by tourism. The whale migration highway is up and down this coast, and a proposal like this would absolutely destroy that region's tourism industry, which is so important for Australia. It's environmental vandalism at its worst and it should be put to bed today.

The parliament has the opportunity to put it to bed. How long do we have to debate this issue? The permit expired well over 10 months ago, so the government should have made a decision on this permit by now. But the minister, Mr Pitt, won't make a decision. The member for Warringah's bill says the people of Australia want a decision made, and they want that decision made now. This parliament has the opportunity to do that now, so we don't need weasel words from the member for Robertson, the member for Mackellar, the member for Wentworth and the minister. They're trying to get out of this by saying, 'Well, we don't support PEP-11 and we also want to kill it.' We have got the opportunity, so let's do it today. Let's finish this debate and move on to debating the member for Warringah's bill and killing PEP-11 once and for all.

Mr BANDT (Melbourne—Leader of the Australian Greens) (11:04): The Greens support this move from the member for Warringah. The Greens oppose PEP-11. We're in a climate crisis. Everyone—from the United Nations to Joe Biden, Boris Johnson and the conservative International Energy Agency—has said there is no room for new coal, oil and gas projects. On climate grounds alone we should stop the expansion of new fossil fuel projects because we're going to end up with stranded infrastructure when the rest of the world shifts to a zero-pollution economy. As has been pointed out by our New South Wales senator, Mehreen Faruqi, who has worked side by side with the very strong community, which is speaking very loudly, we are going to damage some of the most pristine and valuable area of our coast. Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, our spokesperson for healthy oceans who has also been part of this campaign, has made the point that the damage that is going to be done to oceans is significant, not just from the drilling but also from the seismic testing. We've seen that in areas around Tasmania. So if we're concerned about our climate, about our oceans and about all the people whose livelihood is dependent on healthy oceans and a beautiful coastline, then we must stop PEP-11.

The government should support this. There's no reason for the government to oppose this. Politicians giving weasel words, saying, 'Oh, we're going to stop it,' but then not actually stopping it is part of the reason that communities have so much distrust in politics in the first place. The government comes here and says this is a community issue—well, the community has spoken loud and clear and said, 'Stop PEP-11.' I say to all those Liberal MPs who are saying, 'Don't proceed with action in parliament because it's a community issue,' that the community have spoken. They're after the government to do something very simple, that the government can do and that is within its power to do, which is to say it is not going to proceed and it is going to make that law, make it legally binding. Until the government does, people are right to be suspicious. People are right to say, 'Why do the Prime Minister and the local member say one thing but then refuse to put it into law?'

If the government is not going to do it, then the parliament should. That's why we support the member for Warringah's suspension motion today. It is putting into law what the community is asking. I hope that the government supports this today. The Greens will be proceeding with our bill in the Senate to stop offshore oil and gas drilling because that is what we need to do. I welcome the broad range of support for this motion today, and I hope it translates into other areas, like stopping the fracking of the Beetaloo and stopping new coal, oil and gas projects elsewhere. That would be only logical. But right here, today, the Greens throw our support behind this move. We will continue to fight side by side with the community. Now the government has the chance to not just have the odd member say something or even have the odd member cross the floor. It has the chance to stop PEP-11. And if the government are not going to do it, the parliament should make them.

Mr FALINSKI (Mackellar) (11:08): I stand here today as someone who is implacably opposed to PEP-11 and offshore drilling off the coast of Sydney, Newcastle and elsewhere. Late last year I moved a motion in this chamber calling on the government to do that. I was supported at that time by the member for Robertson, the member for Wentworth and the member for North Sydney. It is important to note that since that time the New South Wales government, a joint signatory to the joint authority, has come out opposed to this project. It is important to note that since that time the Prime Minister went to the Central Coast—more than Anthony Albanese has ever done or the member for wherever—

Honourable members interjecting—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Bird ): The member for Mackellar will ignore the interjections because they're about to stop.

Mr FALINSKI: He said to the communities that he was opposed to this licence. Why I am opposed to us suspending the standing orders and bringing on a debate on the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Stopping PEP11) Bill 2021 is that there has been no consultation with this side of the parliament over this. I have a note—

Honourable members interjecting—

Mr FALINSKI: The opposition leader may be interested in this, because I know he doesn't mind spending other people's money on things. I have a note from a constitutional lawyer in the Parliamentary Library that says that, if we pass this bill, it opens the taxpayers of Australia to a claim on just terms to potentially hundreds of millions of dollars to Advent Energy. I'm surprised those opposite are suddenly in favour of subsidising fossil fuel companies to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Now, do I want Minister Pitt to have made a decision not today but yesterday on this? Absolutely. This has dragged on too long. Let us not forget how all this started. This all started when the Carr Labor government in New South Wales decided to grant a licence to fossil fuel companies to poke, prod and blast the oceans off Newcastle with sonar and disturb the sea life in those areas for 25 years. That has happened. The Labor Party did that, not the Liberal Party. Now at the end of it, when we are trying to clean up the mess that they created, they now want to bring a bill to this parliament, without due process, without looking at it, without people examining the impacts of it, potentially opening the taxpayers of Australia to a compensation claim of hundreds of millions of dollars because they can't even be bothered consulting with us, they can't be bothered reading it and they can't be bothered taking advice on it. What would we expect from the Labor Party? They can't work with anyone to get anything done.

I'm surprised that the member for Melbourne, who apparently is the Leader of the Greens, now wants to give hundreds of millions of dollars to fossil fuel companies. Instead of working through the process—which I concur has taken far too long for Minister Pitt to reach a decision, but such is the nature of NOPSEMA and these regulatory authorities. At least he's going through the process and he is not seeking to use other people's money to compensate energy companies that should never have been given by the Labor Party in New South Wales a licence worth hundreds of millions of dollars. As they go through the process of trying to prove that, after 25 years of looking for gas and oil where there is no gas and oil, they should continue to hold this licence for no good reason, it is just extraordinary.

For this to occur just as we are getting to the end of the process reminds me of the old Chinese proverb that it's like the rooster trying to take credit for the sun coming up. We have gone through this process. We have diligently worked our way through it. I'm opposed to PEP-11. I'm opposed to the environmental damage it could do. I have stood up in this parliament. I have taken on my own government over this. I have fronted Keith Pitt and told him that a decision needs to be made. However, I don't see that on the other side. All I see is political stunts that never seem to know any end.

Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler—Leader of the Opposition) (11:13): What an extraordinary contribution from a government member. You would think that he was in no position to actually make a decision. This is a decision of this government. The New South Wales government have come out with a good position on PEP-11. Those opposite, including Keith Pitt, the minister, are in a position to rule this out today, to make a decision today, which would be not as good as making a decision yesterday, not nearly as good as making a decision last month and nowhere near as good as making a decision last year, but at least it would be a decision.

The fact is that I've travelled up with the member for Dobell. We stood at Terrigal and made it very clear that we were opposed to PEP-11. That was a process that went through our processes of shadow cabinet and through our caucus unanimously because this is a bad proposal. It is no wonder that the member for Warringah now sits on the crossbench rather than as a Liberal Party member; the truth is that the people of the northern beaches have been abandoned by this government. The people of the Central Coast have been abandoned by this government. The people of Newcastle and the Hunter have been abandoned by this government. The people of Sydney around the Kingsford Smith and, indeed, Wentworth electorates have been abandoned by this government as well.

Keith Pitt, of course, has given various interviews where he has said that there is a whole lot of investment, that investment comes from shareholders, and therefore we need to take that into account. The PEP-11 proposal is for offshore drilling off some of the most pristine beaches in the most densely populated communities of our nation. The idea that you would have oil drilling off those beaches, be it Manly, Maroubra, Bondi, Terrigal, Avoca or Newcastle's Merewether Beach, is an extraordinary proposition. This is a complete no-brainer. But from a government led by a man whose attitude towards the environment is one of ridiculing renewable energy, ridiculing electric vehicles—ridiculing anything to do with protecting the pristine natural environment in this country by taking action on climate change and other environmental issues—it's not surprising. It's not surprising that we have in the position of Minister for Resources and Water a man who never sees anything he doesn't want to dig up. So, rather than having a strong environmental position to balance up the need for extraction of resources against protection of our natural environment, what we have from this government is a let-it-rip approach that has complete disregard for these issues.

It's interesting that the member for Mackellar, in his rather bizarre contribution here today, spoken as if he really had no influence over the government, spoke about his lobbying of Minister Pitt. He didn't speak about his lobbying of the Minister for the Environment—no, not a word. The environment minister just sits there, does nothing, doesn't take any action, doesn't take environmental protection seriously at all. It's no wonder that the member for Mackellar is under siege from local community organisations in his own electorate, because he's shown himself to be impotent. He was okay at taking action to remove the former member for Mackellar from this parliament—and I say to the member for Mackellar that I congratulate him on that effort—but since he arrived here he hasn't troubled the scorers.

We all have responsibility for our electorates. There was a proposal a few years ago for coal seam gas drilling in St Peters, in my electorate—a rather interesting proposition that was put forward!—and I joined with the community in opposing that proposal because it simply wasn't appropriate. There is a role for resources extraction in this country, but let me just say this as well: the resources sector is undermined as a whole by proposals like this. This damages the resource sector's reputation. That is why legitimate resource businesses are horrified by this proposal, because they all get tarred with this brush. The resources sector is very important for employment.

We have a proposition before this parliament for the suspension of standing orders, which the member for Mackellar has said he's going to vote against. Let's be clear about what he's voting against if he votes against this proposition: he's voting against the member for Warringah having a debate on her bill. He's not voting against the bill; he's voting against the bill being debated and determined by this parliament.

This is a parliament that used to be able to debate issues. We used to have suspensions of standing orders. Leave used to be granted to have discussion. I've sat in this parliament, under the Howard government as well as under the Rudd government and under the Gillard government, and had debates about private members' bills. I've moved private members' bills in this parliament. We have had debates about significant issues, both here and in the Federation Chamber, and had those issues determined by the parliament. That's called democracy. The way this government approaches these issues is just to shut down debate. It's only because this motion's been moved by an independent member that I've been able to contribute to this debate, which is why I didn't want to miss the opportunity to make a contribution consistent with my stance on this issue.

To be very clear: this is a suspension of standing orders to allow the member for Warringah to have a debate about an issue which, quite clearly, is of interest to a range of members in this House, not least of which are the member for Shortland, the member for Dobell, the member for Newcastle and the member for Kingsford Smith, as well as the member for Mackellar, the member for Robertson, the member for Melbourne and the member for Warringah. It seems to me to be quite extraordinary that you would not then have a debate allowed, which is why this suspension should just go through on the voices if those opposite are fair dinkum at all. But, if the member for Mackellar and the member for North Sydney and the member for Robertson vote against this motion, let me tell you, it won't just be the member for Warringah telling her constituents about it; it will be others as well.

This PEP-11 project should be consigned to the dustbin of history, where it belongs. Here we have a government that has been in office until towards the end of its third term. They're in pre-caretaker mode already, struggling as they are to get to 2022 as they fall apart, with chaos on the opposite over climate change. They've got a conference in 10 days time, and they don't have a government position, as of today, on net zero by 2050. It is just extraordinary. They don't have a position on this either, and this is not a big call. This is a complete no-brainer. Minister Pitt could make a decision immediately which would mean that the member for Warringah wouldn't have to proceed with her bill, and that's the preferred action. The minister should just do his job and say no to this proposal.

Mr HAWKE (Mitchell—Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs) (11:23): I move:

That the question be now put.

Question agreed to.

The SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be disagreed to.

Question agreed to.

The SPEAKER (11:30): I have received advice from the Chief Government Whip nominating members to be members of certain committees.

Mr HOGAN (Page—Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister and Assistant Minister for Local Government) (11:31): I ask leave of the House to move a motion for the appointment of members to certain committees.

Leave not granted.

Mr GEORGANAS (Adelaide) (13:30): [by video link] For the Prime Minister, every problem is someone else's problem; every crisis is someone else's responsibility. When he's called out on his failures—and he has been many times—the Prime Minister's response is always the same. He'll say, 'It's not my job,' 'It's a matter for the states,' or, 'I don't hold a hose.' We've seen examples of that continuously throughout his leadership. We saw it over and over during COVID. We saw it over and over during the bushfires. We've seen it continuously. Australia is one of the greatest countries in the world, but it's also very isolated. It's away from Europe and away from the US at the bottom of the earth. And through this Prime Minister's inaction we've become even more isolated.

The Prime Minister said that COVID isn't a race. This is what we were told by the Prime Minister, when it really was a race. The reality is that the Prime Minister was Australia's handicap in the race. Those of you who know about thoroughbred racing know we put weights on the horses to handicap them. That's what he did. He was the weight on Australia in that particular race. We're seeing the same thing on climate change. That is also a race that we need to work on very quickly, but even here we're starting with a very hefty handicap in the form of the Prime Minister, the member for New England, the member for Hughes and Clive Palmer. They're our handicaps in this race.

Instead of going missing and passing the buck, the Prime Minister needs to step up and be a leader. (Time expired)

Mr YOUNG (Longman) (13:32): [by video link] According to the Children's Cancer Institute, in Australia more than 1,000 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer each year. Cancer kills more children than any other disease in Australia. Approximately three children and adolescents per week die from cancer in Australia. Two-thirds of children who survive cancer suffer serious long-term effects. Worldwide, about 300,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed each year in children and adolescents. Let's let the figures sink in for a moment. This is the devastating reality that many Australian families face when a child is diagnosed with cancer. There are many different cancers a child can get, but some of the most common childhood cancers are leukaemia, brain cancer, neuroblastoma, sarcoma and lymphoma.

Last month was International Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, when people were urged to wear gold ribbons, the international awareness symbol for childhood cancer, to shine a light on the devastating diseases and the impacts they have on families going through them in the local community. I'm calling on all Australians and the government to join the fight to beat childhood cancer, not just every year in September during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month but also throughout the year.

The Children's Cancer Institute states that the overall survival rate for childhood cancer has now risen, thankfully, to more than 80 per cent thanks to medical research. This figure alone shows us why it's so important to spread awareness, to support children and families battling cancer, to fundraise and to continue to invest in medical research. (Time expired)

Mr KEOGH (Burt) (13:33): [by video link] Alongside the member for Fremantle, I recently spent 24 hours off the Western Australian coast on HMAS Collins, living, overnight, the life of our submariners. It gave us a frontline appreciation of how they live for months on end and of our submarine's strategic capabilities. This was about a week before the AUKUS announcement, and as is my habit I was keen to glean our submariners' view on nuclear propulsion. It was unanimous for the submariners—they want nuclear-powered submarines because they are safer and harder to detect as they don't have to come to the surface as frequently as a submarine on a diesel engine.

There is no doubt the government's decision that Australia has a nuclear-powered submarine fleet will improve our defence capability in an increasingly challenging environment. This decision, made possible because of a change of policy by our closest allies, is supported by Labor. We must not forget, in the politics of the AUKUS decision, that this decision has a major impact not only on our geostrategic position and capability but also, importantly, on those whose lives depend on us getting this procurement right and on time—our submariners. We must ensure that the Morrison government's record of completely and utterly mishandling our Future Submarine Program to date does not continue with this critical new nuclear-powered project. Our security and so many Australian jobs also depend on getting this right. It's vital that the acquisition of this new defence capability is done on time, on budget and, as much as possible, using Australians for our sovereign defence industry. (Time expired)

Mr CHESTER (Gippsland) (13:35): Victoria is home to a world-class, environmentally sustainable and highly regulated native timber industry. It's an industry which is innovative. It has invested in technology to maximise yield and reduce its environmental impacts, and it's a major employer in regions like Gippsland. So it defies logic that the Victorian Labor government wants to ban the harvesting of all native hardwood timber by 2030. The Victorian timber industry uses just four trees out of every 10,000 trees in Victoria each year. We have an advanced network of reserves and national parks to protect areas of high conservation value, so a properly regulated timber industry in Victoria is a far better option than importing timber from countries with poorer environmental protocols.

I urge the Premier to reconsider the bloody-minded decision and to listen to the union leaders in the CFMMEU, to small-business owners and to families. There are 2½ thousand jobs at stake. CFMMEU secretary Michael O'Connor says of Labor's approach to the timber industry, 'This chaotic approach to making laws is leaving out the voices of those most impacted.' It's good to see that Mr O'Connor has the guts and the integrity to stand up for blue-collar workers. I urge those opposite to join us in fighting for the jobs of the Victorian timber workers. I support a sustainable native hardwood timber industry in Victoria as part of a well-managed system that protects local jobs and the environment.

Mr DAVID SMITH (Bean) (13:36): Today I wish to raise the issue of massive management and administration fees eroding the value of aged-care packages in my electorate and across the country. A constituent has written to me, stating that his wife's care provider had been charging care and package management fees totalling $510 a fortnight, or over $13,000 per year. This is just over a quarter of the total funding available under her package. Assuming that these managers cost $50 an hour, including on-costs, that amount is sufficient to pay for five hours a week of management. The balance of her package will be enough to pay for only eight hours a week of actual personal care, at the provider's current hourly rates. The provider has now, from 1 September, increased these management fees by 15 per cent, or almost $1,900 extra a year. This will further reduce—by half an hour a week—the amount of care that can be purchased.

As the aged-care royal commission revealed, this level of administration fees is common across the home-care sector. It means that the government is paying providers about $1 billion a year to manage care worth $3 billion. This needs to change. It's just another example of why we need reform of our aged-care sector, reform that only an Albanese Labor government can deliver.

Mr FALINSKI (Mackellar) (13:38): I would like to present a speech by Edward Sethaphanich, a 15-year-old at Narrabeen Sports High School who lives in Dee Why, in my electorate. This is his speech for Raise Our Voice in Parliament.

'Mr Speaker, the honourable Prime Minister and honourable members of this House, 20 years into the future I envision Australia to be a much more influential and greater nation than what it is today, one which guarantees a sustainable future, provides our children with an advanced education system and creates vast opportunities through innovation. Twenty years into the future of Australia, I have a clear vision of a growing digital economy where businesses are able to perform freely, without the risk of government intervention, while workers are able to work in a safe and diverse environment, filled with different experiences and visions for this nation. Twenty years into the future, I have a clear vision of Australia being a nation which doesn't join wars but rather helps others in times of need and becomes the pure representation of unity and peace, to save tears for another day. But, more importantly, 20 years into the future, I envision Australia to be a nation which ventures into the vast stretches of the unknown, the unfinished and the unanswered, in order to be the guiding light as to what can be achieved if we all work together.'

Ms TEMPLEMAN (Macquarie) (13:39): Why is the Morrison government so slow to act and so mute on a tool that can help us get back to some sort of normality? I'm talking about rapid antigen testing, an extra tool the world has in its toolkit to give people an additional way to protect others as we open up, but you wouldn't know much about it if you're in Australia. While self-testing kits are allowed from 1 November, they're not on Medicare and there's no information or education campaign happening about how these kits can help build confidence in people—confidence to go from work to the pub or from home to work—with a pretty reliable result to say whether or not they're COVID positive. They show up a high viral load, they're as easy as a pregnancy test and they should be made available to people either free or subsidised.

In Canada, they're distributed free to small businesses and community organisations. In the UK, you can have self-test kits sent free to your home or you can pick up two packs of seven from the pharmacy. In Germany, people with disabilities and elderly people living in residential care or receiving in-home care, and their staff and visitors, are given free tests, and, since March, all citizens are entitled to at least one rapid antigen test a week. We've been too slow to adopt these. The Morrison government needs to step up and lead so that we can effectively use this tool to help us get out and stay out of lockdowns.

Mr CONNELLY (Stirling) (13:41): Yesterday, I had the great pleasure of speaking with my good friend Karyn Hinder, who's the founder of Working Spirit. I congratulated Karen on receiving a Prime Minister's Veterans' Employment Award for excellence in supporting veterans' employment. Since founding Working Spirit in 2016, Karen has been working tirelessly, drawing from her own experience in the ADF to help veterans find employment and readjust to mainstream life. Each week, she sends job opportunities to around 700 veterans, 30 of whom she engages with and puts in touch with employers—some of them small businesses, others high-profile companies—looking for experienced workers. In fact, companies from right around the country are engaging with Working Spirit because they hope to get veterans on board their own teams.

While I was speaking to Karen, she mentioned how she was working closely with engineering firm Monadelphous, who have recently taken on new employees through Working Spirit. Monadelphous, along with Karyn and other veterans, visited HMAS Stirling in Western Australia for an extensive tour of the base to showcase the roles that ADF personnel fill and the skill sets that they can bring as veterans within businesses. It's organisations like Working Spirit who are helping veterans to reconnect with civilian work opportunities in this next stage of their lives and also helping employers to access the wonderful skills, knowledge and attitudes that veterans bring to workplaces.

Ms SHARKIE (Mayo) (13:42): Almost 20 years ago, Australia was one of the first nations to join the US-led intervention in Afghanistan that removed the Taliban. My community and others around Australia are deeply concerned about the plight of the Afghan people and the recent exodus of refugees following the coalition withdrawal and subsequent Taliban takeover, particularly about those who helped Australian forces to gain intelligence as interpreters. Last week, I hosted an event in McLaren Vale, where we heard from Kon and Jana from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and Kate and Fida from Welcoming Australia. My constituents want to know how they can help.

One practical response is for this government to increase our refugee intake. A petition led by Change.org and the Afghanistan-Australian Advocacy Network was signed by over 160,000 Australians and is calling on the government to help at-risk groups. To ease the suffering of the people in Afghanistan, urgent action is required. I now table this petition.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Llew O'Brien ): The document will be forwarded to the Standing Committee on Petitions for its consideration and will be accepted subject to confirmation by the committee that it conforms with the standing orders.

Mr CONAGHAN (Cowper) (13:44): Yesterday, parts of my electorate in Coffs Harbour, Sawtell and Toormina were hammered by a ferocious hailstorm, which caused major damage to Toormina Gardens Shopping Centre as well as nursing homes in the area and a lot of private properties. As at midday today, the SES had had 911 requests for assistance. I have been advised that an additional 23 SES units from around the electorate have been dispatched to assist with the clean-up. I'm very relieved to say that there were no injuries reported.

I thank all of the SES and RFS volunteers, as well as the police and rescue units, which immediately responded after the storm. I can advise that I have spoken to Bridget McKenzie, the Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience, who in turn contacted her counterpart in the New South Wales state government, Minister David Elliott, to offer federal assistance if it is required. I've conveyed that also to the member for Coffs Harbour, Gurmesh Singh, and Mayor Denise Knight.

I say to all the residents: 'If you are having trouble getting assistance, there is currently an SES command centre at Toormina soccer fields on Toormina Road, so reach out to them. You can reach out to my office.' I say to the insurance companies: 'Please treat your customers well. We'll be watching.' (Time expired)

Mr WATTS (Gellibrand) (13:45): Labor recently wrote to YouTube highlighting a number of videos posted by the member for Hughes that violated its COVID-19 misinformation policy. Responding to this letter, Google agreed that these videos violated its misinformation policy and removed them, but strangely, of the seven other videos on the member for Hughes's channel that we reported directly on the YouTube platform at the same time, only one has been removed.

During the last federal election the UAP spent more than $8 million on YouTube ads, and the UAP has spent more than $1 million on YouTube ads in the last month. It has spent up to $100,000 promoting a new video citing incomplete extracts of a Therapeutic Goods Administration adverse event report on COVID-19 vaccinations that the TGA has previously said could be 'seriously misleading'. That video has been viewed more than 1.3 million times in the last three weeks, but it still hasn't been taken down. All these UAP ads are authorised and voiced by the member for Hughes.

YouTube has a three-strikes policy governing the banning of individuals on its platform for policy violations. The member for Hughes told the House that he has previously received at least one strike from YouTube for posting COVID-19 misinformation. He has had further videos removed in response to Labor's letter. The question is: why is the member for Hughes and the UAP's YouTube page still operating after repeatedly violating YouTube's policies, let alone spending millions of dollars promoting medical misinformation during a pandemic? Given the member for Hughes's record of spreading misinformation and his intent to match the 2019 election spend of the UAP, the potential for harm is obvious and Google must act in a transparent and proactive way. (Time expired)

Mr COULTON (Parkes) (13:47): At the moment there is a terrific air of optimism across the Parkes electorate. On just under 400,000 square kilometres of New South Wales on the eastern side of Parkes the harvest of one of the biggest grain crops has commenced. Those farmers have come out of years of drought they had. Apart from that, there are enormous construction projects, like the Inland Rail, and all of the work that the 18 councils and the unincorporated area in my electorate are doing through the drought communities fund and the local roads and community infrastructure fund, which was brought about during the COVID pandemic.

On an individual basis there are enormous opportunities for employment. There is a lot of talk about some of the agricultural jobs. There are enormous opportunities in all professions—from education to health, law and trades. There are enormous opportunities for people who want to move west to the fabulous communities that make up the Parkes electorate. There are enormous opportunities in the building industry as towns like Dubbo are growing at an exponential rate. The only thing holding them back is the amount of people to build the houses that are required. If we struggle to get Australian people to move there, I'm all for and support a migration program that brings skilled people with aptitude and courage into my electorate.

Mr HILL (Bruce) (13:49): I want to thank Adele. She lives in a regional community in Victoria in the electorate of Indi. She knitted me this beautiful scarf as part of the Common Grace Knit for Climate Action project. Christians across Australia are knitting these scarfs to show their deep care and concern and to call for real action on climate change. I promised her that I would wear this scarf in parliament today to make this statement. Today is the last joint sitting day before the Glasgow conference, and this scarf represents the truth of climate change. These scarves map the climate data for 101 years, starting from the cooler years to the later part of this century—red hot.

I'm humbled by the efforts of Common Grace and, especially, Adele. We had a lovely Zoom, and she did confess to me that she's 'not much of a knitter'. People in her regional community felt incredible ownership over this project. They dropped off wool and yarn and supported her along the way. She even told me that she broke the design. She's a bit of a rebel, Adele. She put tassels on the end, because she didn't want anything to go to waste, and—hear this—four tiny green dots representing the years in which each of her children were born. I discovered later in the Zoom that she's the mother to one of my university friends, who attended my 21st—we didn't speak about that.

This is a beautiful visual way to start a conversation about climate change. We've had a wasted decade of inaction under the Liberal-National government. We should be leaping ahead and seizing the jobs that come. Instead, the right-wing nut jobs in the National Party are holding the country's economy to ransom—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member will pause, and the member will withdraw the comment that was just made.

Mr Hill: 'Right-wing nut jobs'?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes.

Mr Hill: I didn't mean you, Deputy Speaker Llew O'Brien, but I'll withdraw.

Mr DRUM (Nicholls—Chief Nationals Whip) (13:50): As part of Raise Our Voice's Youth Voice in Parliament Week, today I want to read to the House a speech written by 12-year-old Poppy Broomhall, who attends school at St Mary's College Seymour, which is in the southern part of my electorate of Nicholls. By way of background, young people across Australia were asked to detail where they would like to see Australia in 20 years.

Poppy wrote:

My vision for Australia in 20 years is there is support readily available for those suffering from mental health issues.

The uprising in mental health issues during COVID and the associated lockdowns has been significant, especially amongst the youth of Australia.

The issue is that there has most definitely not been enough support for those struggling and the Government needs to step in and fix this.

The Government needs to encourage more people to study psychology to become therapists and or counsellors, so that when people are struggling, they have that opportunity to go and receive the help and support that they need.

To conclude, I think it is important that the Government prioritises the quality and quantity of help and support for those struggling from mental health issues.

If the focus isn't placed on this today, when will it ever be?

This government, I know, has made significant investments in mental health during the COVID pandemic, but, like Poppy, I agree that more can always be done. I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank Poppy and the hundreds of kids who also contributed their messages as to where they want Australia to be in 20 years time.

Mr CHESTER (Gippsland) (13:52): Well, we've heard a lot in the House this week about the Building Better Regions Fund. I'm here to say that I am very disappointed in the announcement that was made just last week about who the winners, the recipients of the fund, were. My electorate, again, has missed out. Yes, we did receive about $40,000—$20,000 for a leadership program and another $20,000 for food-fossickers event. That is welcomed, but it wasn't the billions that the Prime Minister has been boasting about, and it wasn't the millions that many other electorates have received.

This isn't the first time my electorate has missed out. The City of Greater Bendigo put forward the Bendigo Airport terminal upgrade in three previous rounds and was not successful. We thought we had a chance this time. The focus was tourism. You can't get more tourism focused than an upgrade of an airport terminal. The state government is on board. The local government is on board. Qantas is on board and wants to bring more flights to Bendigo. Yet this government, yet again, has not prioritised this project.

In fact, 72.7 per cent of this round of BBR funding has gone to Liberal-National government electorates. Maybe it needs to be renamed the 'Building Better Rorts Fund', because that's what we're seeing. Funding is only going to their electorates, not all regional electorates. I urge the government to reconsider and to prioritise all the regions, not just their own. (Time expired)

Mr ENTSCH (Leichhardt) (13:53): Last Wednesday evening, my beautiful wife and I had the pleasure of attending the 2021 North Queensland and Northern Territory Restaurant & Catering Hostplus Awards for Excellence, at the Reef Casino in Cairns. It was a sold-out event, with some 190 guests, in what everyone in the tourism and hospitality business feels has been the hardest year that we've had in business. The trials and tribulations were reflected upon, but the determination and passion for food and creating mouth-watering dishes overshone the past 18 months. I'd like to congratulate the winners in their specialist categories: the Temple of Tastes restaurant, in Palm Cove; Guyala Cafe; Cbar Restaurant and Bar, which won two awards; Bridgewater Q; Salsa Bar & Grill; Wolf One Food & Wine; Wild Thyme restaurant; Il Chiosco; CC's Bar and Grill by Crystalbrook, which won two awards; Match Restaurant & Grill, Cowboys Leagues Club; Tha Fish; Seabean Tapas Bar and Restaurant; Chrisco, which was named the Personal Chef and Caterer of the Year; Civeo Village; and Phat Mango, which also took out two awards. It was the first time that these awards have been held in North Queensland in 10 years, and the Restaurant and Catering Industry Association was really excited to reunite the industry in our region. Congratulations and well done to everybody involved.

Ms RYAN (Lalor—Opposition Whip) (13:55): Today, Victoria hit 70 per cent vaccinated for those aged 16-plus, which will trigger the easing of restrictions after our second COVID winter. Wyndham, my home town, hit 70 per cent earlier this week, and if the rate from last week continues we'll reach 80 per cent double-vaccinated some time next week. But imagine my shock this morning when I woke to read an op-ed by the Prime Minister and my shock yesterday at the Prime Minister wanting to wrap himself in the glory of what the Victorian public have done—what the people in my electorate have done and people across this country have done. Make no mistake: we had a second COVID winter because this Prime Minister failed to do his job. He failed to order the vaccines that we needed and that would have meant that we were vaccinated before this winter hit. He failed to build quarantine facilities to ensure the leaks didn't occur. Make no mistake: he failed and that failure has meant, according to today's COVID LIVE statistics, that 125,000 people across this country caught COVID this year and, tragically, 681 Australians have lost their lives. The Leader of the Opposition has acknowledged these statistics in this chamber; it's time that the Prime Minister did. To my locals at home, enjoy coming out of lockdown. You've earned it; the Prime Minister hasn't.

Mr GOODENOUGH (Moore) (13:57): The Carine Cats Ball Club Incorporated is the second-largest junior baseball club in Western Australia, fielding 19 junior teams registered for the 2021-22 season. The club has a growing rate of female participation and will be celebrating its 40th anniversary this season. I recently met on site with the chairperson, Simon Stanton, to help resolve a major obstacle to the construction commencing on the new clubhouse. I understand that $600,000 has been secured jointly through the City of Stirling and from the federal government as part of a 2019 election commitment. The project has gone to tender. However, as a result of an escalation in building costs, there is a shortfall of approximately $100,000 in the funding required to complete the building. I call upon the Minister for Sport to work with the City of Stirling to address the funding shortfall with a view to enabling the construction of the clubhouse in a timely manner. Currently, the facilities are inadequate with very limited storage in an very old building, which does not meet current occupational health and safety standards, and equipment is being stored in a fenced yard outside the building. The nearby ablution facilities are no longer being maintained by the local authority and there are no proper change room facilities.

Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler—Leader of the Opposition) (13:58): Among all the big things we have in Australia, nothing is as huge as the debt of gratitude that we owe our healthcare workers. As we start to see glimmers of life beyond the pandemic, I want to thank those who have got us this far: nurses, doctors, paramedics, carers, orderlies, the receptionists whose faces are the first we see as we walk into a clinic, the cleaners who make others' work possible, everyone who has wielded swabs at a testing station and everyone who has analysed them, everyone who has ensured that vaccination hubs run efficiently, everyone who has given us a vaccine that is our ticket out of this. The same spirit we saw among firefighters during the Black Summer, we see among you. When families couldn't visit, you were there, holding hands, giving comfort. This long season of COVID has taken its toll, with some of you falling sick with the very virus that you have protected us from. Yet, you keep putting yourselves on the line for your fellow Australians, sometimes friends, but mostly strangers. All of us are united in our thanks to you. We owe you a great debt. We also owe you to recognise this debt when we think about the wages and conditions that many of you work under, because you deserve much better than you're currently getting.

The SPEAKER: In accordance with standing order 43, the time for members' statements has concluded.

Mr BURKE (Watson—Manager of Opposition Business) (15:11): I move:

That so much of standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Manager of Opposition Business from moving the following motion immediately:

That the House:

(1) notes that:

(a) yesterday the Prime Minister protected the member for Pearce by blocking a reference to the Committee of Privileges and Members' Interests relating to secret donations received by the member for Pearce;

(b) the decision by the Prime Minister and his government to block a reference to the Committee of Privileges and Members' Interests which had been granted precedence by the Speaker has never occurred in the 120 years of this parliament; and

(c) it has been more than 1,000 days since the Prime Minister and the member for Pearce promised to introduce a national anticorruption commission; and

(2) calls on the Prime Minister to immediately:

(a) end his protection racket for the member for Pearce;

(b) support a referral of the member for Pearce to the Committee of Privileges and Members' Interests; and

(c) introduce a bill to establish a national anticorruption commission with the powers of a standing royal commission.

Yesterday the government abolished the key protection against bribery in this parliament. That's what the Committee of Privileges and Members' Interests is there to do, and yesterday they decided that it's just—

Mr DUTTON (Dickson—Minister for Defence and Leader of the House) (15:12): I move:

That the Member be no longer heard.

The SPEAKER: The question is that the Manager of Opposition Business be no further heard.

The SPEAKER (15:18): Is the motion seconded?

Ms PLIBERSEK (Sydney) (15:18): It is seconded. This is a government addicted to secrecy and committed to protecting every dodgy—

The SPEAKER: The member for Sydney will resume her seat. The Leader of the House has the call.

Mr DUTTON (Dickson—Minister for Defence and Leader of the House) (15:18): I move:

That the member be no longer heard.

The SPEAKER: The question is that the member for Sydney be no longer heard.

The SPEAKER (15:20): The question now is that the motion moved by the Manager of Opposition Business be disagreed to.

Mr WATTS (Gellibrand) (15:22): I rise to make a personal explanation.

The SPEAKER: Does the member for Gellibrand claim to have been misrepresented?

Mr WATTS: I do. It involves the member for Hughes.

The SPEAKER: It doesn't matter who it involves. You may proceed.

Mr WATTS: I thought it was implied. On Wednesday 20 October, the member for Hughes made a personal explanation stating that I had falsely asserted that he had been 'banned from Facebook for spreading COVID-19 misinformation'. There are two misrepresentations in this statement. Firstly, in a recent letter to me from Facebook, the company told me:

As a matter of public record, under our harmful health misinformation policy, we have removed the Facebook and Instagram accounts representing Mr Craig Kelly MP for repeated violations of our community standards.

The second misrepresentation in the member for Hughes's statement is that, despite his own Facebook page being banned, the member for Hughes remains active on Facebook, authorising all of the content on the United Australia Facebook page and featuring in the overwhelming majority of the videos on that page.

Facebook should proactively and transparently apply its community standards and stop the member for Hughes from continuing to spread medical misinformation about COVID-19 during this pandemic.

The SPEAKER (15:24): I have received a letter from the honourable member for Brand proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely:

The Government's abandonment of the Australian resources industry and jobs, by denying the need for net zero emissions.

I call upon all those honourable members who approve of the proposed discussion to rise in their places.

More than the number of members required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

Ms MADELEINE KING (Brand) (15:24): This government has wasted eight years on energy and emissions policy, and, even when the resources industry is implementing its own net zero emissions targets, the minister for resources still refuses to listen to reason. In question time today he failed to take the chance to support the net zero emission ambitions of the whole sector that he purports to represent. He has also, I might add, crab walked away from something he said, a report that he made to the Australian Financial Review that he wanted a $250 billion loan facility for the resources industry in addition to the finance that the government already provides that industry—which, I might add, Labor supports. The loans that are granted through Export Finance Australia and other provisions of government are things Labor has put in place in the past and will continue to support. The resources minister actually suggested a separate $250 billion loan facility for the resources industry in recent press but now he's crab walked away from that.

Australian resources sector exports are worth $283 billion per year. It is by far Australia's largest export sector. Iron ore is Australia's largest export product worth around $80 billion per year. Coal is our second largest export at $40 billion. The third largest is liquefied natural gas at around $30 billion. There are 238,000 people directly employed by the resources industry, including around 8½ thousand apprentices and trainees. The mining and METS sector supports an additional 900,000 Australian jobs indirectly. Moreover, the resources sector contributes tens of billions of dollars in taxes and royalties to Commonwealth and state treasuries each and every year.

Australian miners are world leading. They are serious companies run by serious people, financed by serious investors, operated by hard-working Australians. It is incomprehensible that the likes of the member for Hinkler, the minister for resources, thinks he knows better than the entire resources sector about their emissions and economic prospects.

Yesterday Rio Tinto announced it will switch its iron ore mines to run on renewables as part of its acceleration towards decarbonising. Today we read Rio will commit $10 billion to halve its carbon footprint by 2030. The Deputy Prime Minister might be entirely dismissive of Rio Tinto's efforts—as he was yesterday in question time deriding the fact that its CEO lives in London. Well, I can tell you where thousands of Rio Tinto workers live. They live in regions, towns, cities and suburbs right across this country. I remind the Leader of the Nationals that their head office sits just down the road in Barton in Canberra, so don't have a go at the CEO of Rio Tinto.

Earlier this week Mitsubishi Australia, a key investor in energy assets, including natural gas and metallurgical coal, announced a commitment to net zero by 2050 and a 50 per cent reduction by 2030. Last month BHP set a net zero emissions goal by 2050 and is working with its steel producing consumers to cut emissions as Western Australian iron ore becomes steel. In August the WA chamber of commerce Chief Economist, Aaron Morey, said, 'net zero emissions targets must be set at the national level'.

In October the Minerals Council of Australia confirmed the industry's ambition to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and its support of the Paris Agreement. The QLD Resources Council, under the leadership of the Hon. Ian McFarlane—Australia's longest serving resources and energy minister—also came out in support of this goal on the same day. We know Ian is a great conservative and maybe the minister might want to turn to him for advice. WA's chamber of minerals and energy has also announced its support for reducing emissions to net zero as soon as possible and no later than 2050. A couple of weeks ago, as we all know, the Business Council of Australia released a blueprint for Australia to reach net zero emissions, while growing our economy by $189 billion and creating 195,000 new jobs.

But in the lead-up to Glasgow and COP26, as the prime ministerial jet has been fuelled to take him back to the UK, what do we hear from the minister for resources? The minister for resources flatly refuses to support the climate ambitions of the industry he is supposed to represent. Worse, the minister openly stands against the resources sector's efforts to decarbonise their operations and their products. How can it be allowed to stand that the minister for resources of the Commonwealth of Australia is not in the cabinet? He refuses to support and he actively opposes the ambitions, efforts and investments of the industry he purports to represent. It is extraordinary, and it is an untenable position for this government and this minister to maintain.

Every time I visit a mine site and meet with an extractor company I am told about the efforts they are making to reduce emissions. I visit a lot of mine sites and resources operations, from iron ore mines in the Pilbara to coalmines in the Hunter Valley to gold and rare earth mines to the WA goldfields to LNG off the coast of Darwin and Karratha to lithium mines in the south-west of Western Australia to the nickel mine in Kambalda that feeds the BHP refinery in Kwinana in my electorate of Brand.

Barely a day goes by between commitments to net zero or announcements of strategies to get there or the new renewable energy projects that will power mines, camps and refineries. The Australian resources industry is heading to net zero emissions by 2050, with ambitious targets by 2030. The road to decarbonisation will create jobs and economic opportunities throughout the whole value chain. But, under this do-nothing Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister is holding our nation to ransom—ably aided, I might add, by the resources minister and the former minister for resources, Senator Canavan. Despite the massive contribution of the resources sector to Australia's economic wellbeing, the resources portfolio has been excluded from cabinet because the Deputy Prime Minister doesn't like the member for Hinkley—or was it because the member did not vote for the member for New England to lead the Nationals? This is childish and petulant, and it shows enormous disregard for Australia's largest export industry, which is the backbone of this nation's economy. It is playing politics with the backbone of this nation's economy. It is ridiculous, it's obscene and it must stop.

We have a real opportunity now for the Australian resources industry to help the world decarbonise. WA is home to the largest hard rock lithium mine in the world, in Greenbushes, which I visited. A lithium processing plant is being built in Kwinana, which will create 200 ongoing jobs. Where does lithium go? It goes to batteries—that's right; we like to ignore them! Tesla is buying them from BHP. And it goes to other electric vehicles, to build the kind of car that the Prime Minister claimed would 'destroy the weekend'. You can see, as I have, that the Mount Weld Lynas rare earths mine in Laverton in WA's northern Goldfields is one of the world's highest-grade rare earth deposits. At Mount Weld they mine minerals that go into electric vehicle batteries, including Toyota's hybrid range, as well as minerals that are critical for producing small powerful magnets that make your mobile phone vibrate. So, next time the minister's phone vibrates from a call from a mining executive asking him to get his act together on net zero, thank Lynas and Mount Weld.

The most-sustainable and lowest-carbon nickel producer in the world is BHP Nickel West in Kwinana. It produced the first nickel sulphate crystals just this month and will produce 100,000 tonnes of nickel sulphate this year. That's enough nickel to make 700,000 electric vehicle batteries. And 50 per cent of BHP Nickel West's power is generated by the Merredin solar farm, and they hope to achieve more. BHP are actually doing it, while this government and minister sit on their collective hands. Nickel West represents 80 jobs permanently and 400 jobs indirectly just from the nickel sulphate plant. Across their entire operation, 2½ thousand people are employed in this vertically integrated mine-to-metal business. Every senator and every MP will be glad to know that they have a little bit of Kambalda and a little bit of Kwinana right in their pocket or in their hands when they carry their mobile phones around with them.

Labor will always stand up for the resources industry. We will support the ambition of the resources industry, which creates thousands of good jobs for workers right around the nation and is, as our biggest exporter, literally the backbone of our economy. Labor will ensure that Australia's minister for resources will have a seat at the cabinet table and not be relegated because of a childish spat. Labor acknowledges the work of the resources industry and is seeking to achieve net zero emissions, and if the current minister for resources doesn't want to get behind them he should get out of the way and resign.

Mr PITT (Hinkler—Minister for Resources and Water) (15:34) 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.

As I said in question time, I've been contacted by a gentleman called Kenzy Gillespie. Kenzy is an apprentice electrician. He works at the Moranbah North mine, which I visited in recent weeks. Kenzy was on the opposite shift, so I didn't get a chance to see him. He says to me in his email that he thought I might remember him because he had contacted me earlier in the year. He went on to say:

I was not fortunate enough to be rostered on here at Moranbah north mine today as I would have loved to have met you. Although myself, and all of our Anglo employees are very fortunate to have secured our positions throughout this mine, I can assure you as a 22 year old I have been setup for life with this golden opportunity that is at our feet here in the resources sector.

Because of this I was able to buy my first house at 19, I went on to hold that for 2.5 years and have recently sold that and am looking for acreage around the Mackay region to start primary producing on my days off, all of this would be to no avail without these incredible opportunities in front of us.

Kenzy goes on to say he wants to acknowledge the consistent hard work of all the men and women in the industry and thank me personally for the visit to Moranbah North mine, an Anglo operation. So, every time I consider a policy, every time I consider the sector and every time I look at what we need to do, I keep people like Kenzy front and centre in my mind. Fundamentally, our job is to deliver for the people of Australia and to ensure that they have opportunities into the future, and that is absolutely what I intend to continue to do.

Those opposite talk about the government's abandonment of the Australian resource industry. Let's just have a look at what that abandonment looks like right now. There's never been a better time to be in the sector—there has not. Thermal coal prices are absolutely through the roof. They are at record levels. The spot price today is over US$240, given an exchange rate of roughly 75c—I haven't looked at today's current update. They're out there putting these things in wheelbarrows and running them down the road to get them into a ship so they can get them out for sale. Not many of those opposite will understand what a wheelbarrow is—it's something you do hard work with!

Fundamentally, there are opportunities right across the sector. We know that there's been an early winter snap, particularly in parts of Asia. That has driven up a demand for gas, so gas prices are also up. I'll say categorically that Australia's coal sector, regardless of what some opposite may say, has an incredibly strong and important future. Demand will continue. The forecast that I have is that demand will actually increase from now out to 2030. By 2050, there's an expectation that that market will still be just under 20 per cent off that peak, and Australia will look to fill that market. We will fill that market at every opportunity. If buyers want it, we're selling it. If they want our resources, we'll be delivering them, because it is good for our economy. It's good for the people that I represent. It's good for every single Australian that is looking for an opportunity.

Briefly, while I've got the opportunity, I do want to acknowledge the very, very good work of the sector. One of the things I raised with all of the major companies on appointment was my expectation that they hire and train more young Australians. I'm advised that roughly 5,700 apprentices and trainees have been put on in the sector in the last 12 months. That is more than they've put on altogether for some years. This is a very, very good result. I do want to acknowledge and thank the sector for the work that they are doing with young Australians to give them not only opportunity but also skills—skills that are transferable, skills that people like Kenzy use to go and pay for a house to set themselves up for their future life and future opportunities.

Coal will continue to be a strong part of the economy right throughout Australia, whether it's Newcastle or whether it's Queensland and whether it's thermal coal or whether it's met coal. In fact, we export enough iron ore, for example, to build 10,000 Sydney Harbour Bridges a year. Our met coal sector is incredibly strong. It's rough and ready. Met and thermal are worth about $50 billion to the economy. It's around 50,000 direct jobs and around 300,000 indirect jobs. Practically all of those are in regional areas, and we want to make sure that the sector continues to be strong.

In terms of gas, we're one of the world's largest exporters of gas. All of the forecasts that I've seen expect gas demand to increase. This is why we are driving forward with the gas-led recovery. This is why I've announced a strategic basin plans program. This is why we've gone to areas like the Beetaloo, looking to get that development brought forward by some two to three years on previous expectations. Without that gas, who fills the market? Our competitors do. Without that gas, how do we keep our domestic prices low? Unless we continue to fill not only the east coast market but the whole country with affordable, reliable energy, our manufacturers can't be competitive. This is why we continue to support the sector.

As those opposite outlined, the 'abandonment' of the sector looks pretty good: the forecast is that we'll do a record year. We're going to do $346 billion. That's the estimate, in terms of exports, for resources and energy. That sounds alright to me—up almost $100 million out of the midst of the pandemic. There is no other sector in this country that can turn around $100 billion in economic activity other than the resources sector.

I've been to a number of sites in recent weeks—as you know, Deputy Speaker Llew O'Brien, we've been caught up in Queensland by border restrictions and everything else—including the Bravus mine. Bravus were previously known as Adani. We went in recent weeks. They are at first coal. They're starting to build their stockpile. They've got an expectation that they'll have first deliveries sometime before Christmas. What has that mine done? It's provided jobs for more than 2,000 Australians—2,000 individuals. It's delivered over $1 billion worth of contracts into, in particular, regional cities and regional contractors.

I was up in Townsville when the new trains arrived. They've arrived in Townsville. I was fortunate to be there with Andrew Wilcox, the mayor of the Whitsunday Regional Council. The local member for Dawson and other local members in the area came along. The member for Dawson had a great quote. These trains were big and bright and orange, and the member for Dawson said, 'These are giant orange job-making machines,' and I think that that is exactly right. The Bowen Rail Company has been set up by Bravus as part of their operations based out of Bowen, a small regional centre, delivering jobs for regional towns and regional economies.

I was in Gladstone at the QCLNG plant with Col Boyce, the member for Callide, where we saw firsthand just how important the gas sector is. This is a sector that's grown in just a decade. It's worth tens of billions of dollars. This is Australia's resources sector at work, delivering to markets where, right now, there is some very significant demand. As the shadow minister outlined, we know that exports totalled $30 billion in 2021, and get this: they are forecast to climb to $56 billion in 2021-22—$30 billion to $56 billion in a year. That is incredibly good for the Australian economy. This is how, when we talk about royalties from things like coal, governments, particularly state governments, pay for the essential services that Australians rely on. This is how they pay for hospitals and roads and schools. This is how they pay for police forces and health workers—along with support from the Commonwealth. The taxation from the sector helps the Commonwealth to deliver our facilities and our policies across Australia. Can you imagine where we would be without it? This is a significant contributor to the Australian economy, and right now they are going incredibly well.

Whether you're in Moranbah North, whether you're at Bravus, formerly known as Adani, whether you're in Townsville, whether you're in Newcastle, whether you're across the Hunter, whether you're in the Pilbara, whether you're in any of those regional areas in the Northern Territory—many of them rely, in terms of their jobs, on the resources sector being strong and successful. It is this government that intends to continue that success. It is this government that intends to continue providing those opportunities.

I want to come back once again to the work that's been done by the sector on apprentices and trainees. It's something that I look at, personally, as a former apprentice and as someone that did start by sweeping the floor in a workshop. That opportunity was given to me by heavy industry. I was very fortunate as a 17-year-old kid to get a start. The skills that I learnt took me through a trade. I now find myself here, and I want as many kids as possible in Australia to have those opportunities. Those opportunities are available in the resources sector right now. They are there right now. There are almost 40,000 vacancies. Everyone is looking for workforce. Everyone is looking to try and fill those slots, because right now the market is hot, whether it's gas or whether it's coal—even iron ore is still incredibly strong.

I want to give a shout-out to the sector, whether they're in the west, whether they're in the east, whether they're in coal, whether they're in met coal, whether they're in gas, whether they're in iron ore or any of the critical minerals facilities. We need to train more kids. We need to grow our own timber. They are the ones who are available. I want to see every single Australian kid that wants a job in the sector get that job, learn those skills and go on to be as successful as they choose to be.

Mr CONROY (Shortland) (15:44): It's a pleasure to follow the Minister for Resources and Water—I say that honestly—because he is enthusiastic about the sector. There are many problems with his contribution, but the one I want to pick up is the fact that he spent 10 minutes talking about the resources sector in the context of a commitment to net zero by 2050 and he didn't once mention any of the economic opportunities the transition will bring. He didn't mention battery manufacturing and inputs like lithium mining. He didn't mention hydrogen or the opportunities there. He concentrated on the staples of coal, gas and iron ore, which are all very important and have a great role into the future according to different time frames, but he didn't the mention future opportunities once. That shows the poverty of thinking from those opposite on this issue.

The truth is that Australia is blessed with the greatest reserves of iron and titanium in the world. We've got the second-greatest reserves of rare earths, copper and lithium and the third-greatest reserves of silver. We have all the critical inputs into batteries, electric vehicle manufacturing and the broader clean-energy industries. We've got the highest amount of solar radiation per square metre in the entire world, and we've got great wind and wave resources. All this, when you put it together with a government with a vision and a commitment to net zero emissions by 2050, means we could have a supercharged resources industry. We'd be the home of clean-tech manufacturing for the world. We'd be the home of energy-intensive manufacturing fuelled by cheap and plentiful renewable energy. Tomago Aluminium, for example, would be powered by renewable energy. We'd have clean steel centred in the Hunter again. Newcastle would be the real steel city again, unlike pretenders. We'd be the centre of hydrogen production for the world. All these are the potential that we have if we have a government that embraces net zero, embraces action on climate change and is not held hostage by the troglodytes in the National Party room.

We're backed up in that opinion by many leading corporates, none of them renowned as left-wing communists, none of them renowned as Balmain basketweavers. We've got Rio Tinto, who's committed $10 billion to halving emissions by 2030, including looking at one gigawatt of renewable energy. BHP is aiming for net zero emissions by 2050; as is the Minerals Council. The BCA has found that reaching net zero emissions by 2050 will boost economic growth by $890 billion and create an additional 195,000 jobs. An economic study by Accenture, supported by BCA and the ACTU, called Sunshot, found that Australia could be a clean energy export superpower by 2040, which would produce 395,000 additional jobs and an extra $89 billion in new exports. That is the potential if we embrace it, if we're not scared of the future, like those opposite.

Instead, under this woeful government that is tearing itself apart over climate right now, we are faced with being the rust belt of the Asia-Pacific. We'll face carbon border tariffs hitting Australian farm products, Australian resources and Australian manufactured goods. This is all because of the climate wars that they're perpetuating, because we have a Deputy Prime Minister who rejects the stance of BCA, BHP and Rio because they don't live in his electorate. He says he would rather represent the miners of Muswellbrook, not corporates. But I would contemplate that for a minute. Is he really representing the interests of the miners of Muswellbrook and the engineers of Emerald? I don't think he is. I actually think he's representing one particular mining industry figure, a person who lives a bit further afield than Muswellbrook or Emerald. Let's just call that person 'Gina from Perth'.

Gina from Perth wants Australian workers to earn $2 a day. She's a person who gave a speech at her old school denying climate change. This is the person the Deputy Prime Minister gets his policy advice from. It's not a surprise, since only four months ago she put on a $10,000-a-head fundraiser for the Deputy Prime Minister in her own home. She tried to give the Deputy Prime Minister $40,000 in cash through a made-up agricultural award. She's a woman who flew the Deputy Prime Minister on a private jet for a holiday in India in 2011. This is the one person in the mining industry that the Deputy Prime Minister listens to. For this person he is sacrificing the future of our country, the economic potential of our country, the hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs that we could create, all at the sacrifice of the zero per cent of billionaires that live in his electorate. This is the sad fate of climate policy and energy policy under this government. Those opposite listen to the wrong people. They don't listen to the science. They're guided by narrow sectional interests rather than embracing the true economic future that this country could have if only we had a government with vision, commitment and rational common sense.

Dr GILLESPIE (Lyne—Minister Assisting the Minister for Trade and Investment and Minister for Regional Health) (15:49): I always enjoy these Thursday afternoon MPIs, because they always come up with some crazy hypothesis at the basis of their question or statement. It's so ironic that they're criticising us, when we have actually delivered what we said we would do. We have walked the talk. Many nations and whole sections of the body politic around the world prophesied that they were going to reach amazing targets, but what Australia has achieved is that we have the lowest emissions since records started—in fact, 20.8 per cent less. Our emissions are 20.8 per cent lower than they were in 2005, and down by 639 million tonnes in the last year alone. That's enough to take millions of cars off the road for more than a decade, yet at the same time we are protecting jobs in the resources sector. Employment is up in both the resources sector and the manufacturing sector. What happened when they were last in charge of the Treasury benches and governing this nation? One in eight jobs manufacturing jobs went overseas because of their policies. But in the last manufacturing figures we have demonstrated a growth of more than 100,000 jobs to reach more than a million people involved in manufacturing.

We use technology to reach our targets and we have good economic policies to match our environmental policies. We have been supporting solar uptake, which in this country is quite staggering with 7,000 megawatts of new solar generating capacity in both the large-scale and small-scale solar rollout. That is really quite amazing. Everyone will know that New Zealand has criticised us for not doing enough to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, yet when you look at the figures you'll see that we are way in front of New Zealand, Canada, America and Japan. The OECD average was a reduction of seven per cent, and we are already nudging 21 per cent. Like I said, we have walked the talk. We are promoting soil carbon measurement so that farmers that are already doing it and can get recognition. We want more of that happening because soil organic carbon is a huge sink, and good farming techniques marry with good environmental outcomes.

We have been supporting the resources sector and research. We have mentioned carbon capture and storage. We've put $263 million on top of the existing $50 million in a carbon capture and storage technology hub. The revenue from coal, which is the backbone of energy generation in this country, is up despite the prophecy from the other side that no-one is using it any more and everyone is getting out of coal. China itself is building 37 coal fired power stations. India is building new ones, Japan is building new ones, Indonesia is building new ones. They last for 40 or 50 years, so the demand, as outlined by the minister for resources, is predicted to grow between now and 2030. My electorate of Lyne includes the Hunter Valley, where there are about 20,000 people in direct and indirect employment that depend on the mining and resources industry.

We on this side realise where our fertiliser comes from. It comes from gas. Gas is ubiquitous in manufacturing in so many processes, including in plastics and also in fertiliser. The whole fertiliser production process is centred on Newcastle in New South Wales, and these resources deliver revenue for state budgets that fund hospitals, roads and schools. There are also thousands of wage earners that depend on the resources and energy sectors. We're doing good things for the economy as well as good things for the environment. We are also growing employment, as I've outlined and as the minister outlined. The whole premise of their argument is false and very hard to justify—in fact, it's made up. It's a Thursday afternoon special, yet again.

Ms SWANSON (Paterson) (15:54): Speaking of Thursday afternoon specials, I think we've just heard one! On the eve of the Glasgow conference, according to the Australian Coal Report, the price of export coal out of Newcastle—and this is for the Minister for Resources and Water, who was fetching around for it earlier—has hit another high. It's selling for US$230 a tonne, which is equivalent to A$307 a tonne or 4½ times the amount it was being sold for just one year ago. This seems at odds with a world trying to reduce global emissions, but it isn't. It's clear that coal will have a place in our energy mix going forward. There is no doubt about that, but it's not going to be forever. The use of coal by some nations is not, and should not be considered to be, at odds with Australia's goal of net zero by 2050.

Coal-fired power stations in Australia are closing. They already have, and they're giving us dates for more. Domestic demand for thermal coal will drop. There is no doubt about that. But international demand for Australian thermal coal is likely to continue to be strong in the short term and on to 2050. Decisions about the future of Australian coal exports—Hunter coal exports—won't be made in the Australian parliament; they'll be made in the boardrooms of international companies throughout the world. That's why we have to provide a solid basis for the Australian economy moving forward. This is not a statement of ideology or wishful thinking; it's just a statement of fact.

Coal from Newcastle and Port Kembla is exported to 18 countries, most of them to our near north in Asia. That's why we're seen as the growth engine of the world. Many of these countries are using our coal in coal-fired power stations to generate electricity, so that millions of people across those regions of Asia can flick on a light switch, as we have the privilege to do, and have the things that we take for granted here in Australia today. Newer plants—high-energy, low-emissions plants—have greater efficiencies than Australia's ageing plants and can make the most of the carbon capture used in storage technologies that are now becoming more and more widely used. Our coal is in demand because of these plants. Our coal is fetching high prices because of these plants.

I'm not for one minute suggesting that more coal-fired plants should be built in Australia or should be paid for with taxpayers' money. They won't be, and they shouldn't be. There is no appetite for it, despite what a small minority of those on the other side might have us believe. But that does not mean we should cut off our nose to spite our face. For the time being, our coal is in demand. Our coal is being used to generate electricity in Asia, in countries such as Japan, where the world's fifth-largest economy is being fuelled by Hunter coal, as well as South Korea, Taiwan and China. That market will continue. All of those countries will need to factor in their emissions in their efforts to address climate change, just as we will, and must, in Australia.

According to the Australian department of resources and energy, there will continue to be increases in the tonnage of coal we export both for steaming and coking coal, until at least 2026. After that, markets may decline. Markets are likely to decline. We have to be ready, and it doesn't give us much time. Fortunately, Labor has been thinking about this and planning for this and working on this, unlike those opposite, who are burying their heads in the sand. They are not a coalition; they're a rabble of infighting, Hunger Game alarmists. My community and the community of the Hunter Valley depend on coal, and we won't stand for it.

An honourable member: Squid Game!

Ms Swanson: That's right. They are living Squid Game; we are not. We won't squib you, but they might squid you—not all of the community, that is true. There are many, many other industries that thrive in the Hunter Valley, and we know that that's important too. It is true that not all in my community support the continued mining of coal. I hear that regularly from people and I understand, but I want to say to all of those people: 'We can't switch off coal overnight. We need to think about our communities. Please think about the workers in these industries who've worked with coal and relied on coal to put food on the table, to keep local businesses afloat and to keep their communities vibrant.' I want to say to those people who work in the coal industry: 'We want to protect you and your jobs. If you want to protect your jobs and our planet, vote Labor and do not trust this rabble of a government.'

Mr TIM WILSON (Goldstein—Assistant Minister to the Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction) (15:59): I really don't know what it is we're hearing in this chamber today. We have got a mixture of the odd couple, or maybe there are multiples of them. Normally we'd have in the back the member for Isaacs shouting down the member for Paterson for the speech she just provided. The member for Macnamara would be in here condemning her commitment to the minerals industry and the creation of energy and jobs. The member for Brand, the member for Paterson and the member for Shortland would be spruiking coal in front of the chamber. There is complete confusion on the part of the Labor Party, which reflects their fundamental lack of understanding of the minerals sector, mining and how they contribute to the Australian economy.

Don't go anywhere, Member for Shortland. We know you're going somewhere. You're off to Glasgow as part of the odd couple with the member for Isaacs. This is going to be one of the most entertaining examples. The member for Isaacs runs around mocking other members of the Labor Party for daring to consider that we have to have jobs in the mining sector. You are going to go together and patch together a coherent narrative about how the Labor Party has a solution to the challenges of climate change. I wish you well. The member for Shortland has a long history of being abusive to people he disagrees with or who disagree with his view on climate change. I know that's going to be a challenge. I am sure you will find solace and comfort in Glasgow by going with him. Hopefully you'll be able to come back a new man.

Let's face it, members on the other side of this chamber simply want to distract from some fundamental realities. They don't have a solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions while making sure we back Australian industries and jobs. We saw this at the last election. They took a policy position on their 2030 target. What is their 2030 target today? I'm listening. I'm waiting to hear an answer, and there is none. There's silence. They go for the long haul but they won't go for the short-term target on which they can be measured and backed, because they have no plan. Everything the Labor Party stands for is based on intentions, not outcomes. That compares to this side of the chamber. We're focused on what we need to do to build the industries of the future to maintain jobs and opportunities for Australians. We also understand that we have to support and back our primary industries. This side of the chamber has always understood that, if you don't have wealth-creating primary industries, you will not create the wealth of the nation to support the manufacturing sector and of course the services sector across the nation. It does not matter where you are in this nation. You are dependent on the wealth that is created from primary industries to back you, your job and your livelihood.

We understand—and we've seen this under the current minister and the Prime Minister—the importance and opportunity of the critical minerals sector. So many technologies to decarbonise globally—whether it's EVs, solar PV cells or new innovative technologies—are dependent on critical minerals like lithium, nickel and copper and rare-earth elements. We are going to make sure that we have the necessary ingredients. We are going to back Aussie jobs to achieve their extraction. That is part of the story of building the next generation of Australian jobs.

That will never be enough for Labor. The old saying is: if you hold a hammer, everything looks like a nail. In Labor it doesn't matter what they're holding—everything should be solved with a tax. This is the party that spectacularly turned around support from the mining sector for a restructuring of the mining tax. They managed to turn not just the mining industry against them, who initially put forward the idea, but the whole nation against them, and that led to the loss of government. This is the party that went to an election and said, 'There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead.' When they did a seedy deal with the Greens to form government that went away straightaway.

It was hilarious to hear the member for Paterson talk about her love for coal and how Labor want to embrace CCS when only a few weeks ago they came into this chamber and tried to make sure there was no investment in reducing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions through CCS. Every time, they talk big. Every time, they make their case. But it's always policy that is based on intent and not outcomes. On this side of the chamber we're for outcomes and Aussie jobs. (Time expired)

Dr ALY (Cowan) (16:04): [by video link] This morning I was thinking about what I will tell my grandchildren—when I eventually get them—about my time in parliament. I thought to myself that there would be many moments I could share with them, like the time the former Attorney-General and the Prime Minister backed in a billionaire who tried to bankrupt Western Australia. Or the time the government voted against referring the member for Pearce to the privileges committee for the first time in the history of parliament. Or the time that the Prime Minister cuddled a precious lump of coal in the chamber. Or, indeed, the moment that we're having right now with a government that has dithered and dathered on an energy emissions policy for eight long years, even in the face of mounting evidence of the economic benefits of net zero emissions and an industry that is increasingly more frustrated by a lack of political action.

The Prime Minister might rely on miracles, but the WA resources sector does not. Just this week, Rio Tinto announced it would accelerate its transition to decarbonisation by moving its iron ore mines to run on renewables, and they've invested $10 billion to get there. Mitsubishi Australia has committed to net zero by 2050, as has BHP. The WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the WA Chamber of Minerals and Energy have called for net zero emissions by 2050. The resources industry is racing towards net zero, but the PM and the Minister for Resources and Water are distracted by internal party politics.

Australia, particularly Western Australia, has a lot to offer the world in renewables, in hydrogen, in lithium and in rare minerals. We've got Greenbushes, in the south-west, the largest hard-rock lithium mine in the world. Mount Weld in Laverton has the highest-grade rare earth deposits. Nickel processing in Kwinana by BHP Nickel West produces enough nickel to make 700,000 electric-vehicle batteries. And, right here in the northern suburbs, ClearVue Technologies has developed solar-panelled glass that has the capacity to revolutionise the building industry. But every time I speak to anyone in the resources sector, or anyone conducting world-leading research into renewables, I hear the same story. Their ability to capitalise on Australia's technical expertise, our natural deposits and our ingenuity is stymied by the failure of this government to deliver a national policy on energy and emissions. Yet the Clean Energy Council has just said that we as a nation have the capability and capacity to reach 44.5 per cent cuts to emissions by 2030.

This isn't a matter of ideology. What members opposite believe or don't believe about climate change is beside the point. This is about Australia's future prosperity for our children, for our grandchildren—when we eventually get them—and for generations to come. This is about the blind denial of a reality that is staring us all right in the face, a reality where the market and the industry is taking the lead on decarbonisation and emissions reductions because this government and this minister for resources refuse to.

I dream about grandchildren, but now is not the time to dream about miracles. It's not the time to procrastinate. Now is the time for quite a harsh reality check. That means getting on board the renewables train and acting with conviction. That's what the resources sector is doing. They're not just getting on that train—they have had to build the tracks. They have had to build the train and the signals, and now they're having to drive that train as well. They're having to do all the heavy lifting and the hard yards in the absence of political will, stymied by this government that could pave the way for a prosperous Australia and a prosperous future. The minister for resources refuses to hop on that train. He refuses to get on board. The Prime Minister refuses to hop on that train. I say that, if they're refusing to hop on that train, they should get out of the way, because the train's coming.

Mr PASIN (Barker) (16:10): It's an honour to follow the member for Cowan for what I suggest sounded a lot like a valedictory speech, but it is time for us to have a reality check.

An opposition member interjecting—

Mr PASIN: I think I've scratched an itch!

When I read this motion, I thought to myself, 'Pinch yourself, Tony; you're still dreaming.' The suggestion of those opposite is that our government has abandoned the Australian resources industry and jobs. I am pretty clear that that hasn't happened, but I will tell you what did happen. It's not something I determined; the people of Australia determined it in 2019. The blue collar workers in the Australian resources industry in 2019 had a decision to make, and they made it pretty clear. They made it in Western Australia in droves. They made it in Queensland in droves. We had one proposal where our government said we'd reduce emissions by 26 to 28 per cent, meet Kyoto I and II and ultimately put ourselves on a path to meet and beat our targets in Paris. We had the member for Maribyrnong leading the Australian Labor Party with a target to reduce emissions by 45 per cent. Ultimately, those in the Australian resources sector said, 'No, thank you,' because the Australian resources sector and the blue collar workers that work within it are incredibly intelligent people. They knew what rushing to that kind of reduction target meant.

This debate isn't about emissions reductions. It's actually about the speed at which we get there. Those opposite at the last election wanted to rush to that outcome. If you want to rush to that outcome, the only tool you've got in your toolbox is a tax. If, on the other hand, you want to put yourself on a sensible trajectory, you give yourself more time to adopt technology based solutions. I suggest to those opposite that, whenever mankind has been faced with a challenge over its history, we have solved that problem using technology because, every time we try to solve that problem with a tax, it fails. The reality here is that this is a technology based solution or nothing, and we need to adopt that approach.

Those opposite bemoan us for achieving our Kyoto I target, achieving our Kyoto II target—and, by the way, those opposite don't even have a 2030 policy. They don't have a target for 2030. In fairness, this motion should say, 'We congratulate the government for being about actions and outcome, as opposed to those opposite, who are about froth and bubble.' But that's the point, isn't it? They've always been about froth and bubble. They didn't care that the mining resources rent tax didn't raise a cracker, because it sounded good in the pages of the Age and the Guardian. They weren't focused on outcomes. We are focused on outcomes. I can tell you who else is focused on outcomes: the blue collar workers of this country, not just in the Australian resources sector but right across the spectrum. They have got an incredibly attuned radar for froth and bubble and, when they hear it in the lead-up to an election, they say, 'No, thank you'.

I'm really pleased that those opposite have decided that they are for the Australian resources industry once again. It's a quantum change. We've been away from this place for some time, but you might recall that, the last time we were here, there were discussions about the Leader of the Opposition slinking his way very privately and confidentially into a coalmine. They weren't that proud about that situation then. The people of Australia get this. They don't judge people on what people say. People in my electorate say, 'Tony, we will judge you on what you do, not what you say.' Those opposite need to realise that the people of Australia are making those judgements right now. It's what you do; not what you say. It's not what target you'd like to achieve—or, for those opposite, what target you don't have. It's what target is set and you beat—what target you meet and beat. Those opposite don't even have a target, and they want to come in here and lecture us about our achievements—Kyoto 1, Kyoto 2 and on the trajectory for Paris. (Time expired)

Ms CLAYDON (Newcastle) (16:15): What an extraordinary debate this afternoon! I barely know where to begin. But I do know that the last few weeks in the House—this week and before we came back to Canberra—my observation of this government is that it has been kind of reminiscent of watching the season finale of Dallas. It's like the worst US soap opera imaginable that revolves around this kind of affluent, feuding family that makes itself wealthy from oil and cattle industries, but they're at each other and undermining the bejeezus out of one another all the time. Well, that's the coalition party room. It is like one loop of Dallas, after Dallas, after Dallas.

We have had eight years of this now—eight years of this ramshackle government, trying to get its act together on climate change, on energy or, frankly, any other number of important key policy issues for this nation. But finding its way to net zero emissions has been the most painful birth of all, and they still haven't got there; they are still in labour. They should actually let the real Labor take over and make sure that this country gets to net zero emissions by 2050. This has been the longest soap opera ever. Of course, we have had a few funny twists and turns on the way. They sent that senator, the old accountant from Queensland, down to the Hunter Valley to spread a bit of coal on his face to pretend he is at one with the people down there. As if any of our coalminers would take that bloke seriously! The government must not have understood just how disrespectful that looked to all of the hardworking men and women in that sector.

We in Newcastle know a thing or two about when big companies and global capitals start making decisions, because we had a thing called a steelworks that operated in Newcastle. My dad was a rigger at BHP. I grew up with BHP pumping jobs, energy and steel out of that factory my whole life. Like every kid, I loved the tapping of the blast furnace and seeing those flames go everywhere. But you know what? BHP made an economic decision to leave us—to leave us hanging out to dry, quite frankly. But we didn't, because the people of Newcastle are a very resilient bunch. There was a shocking effort by the then Howard Liberal government to cobble together a restructure package, but Newcastle has gone on to diversify its economic base. We are now smart manufacturers of so many things, and we're turning ourselves to the opportunities of new energy sources.

We want to be sitting at the table when those decisions get made, because we have a lot of skin in the game. We have a lot of people tied up in jobs that have a finite future. We know that when global capital make a big decision, they don't bother turning around and asking all the workers how they're going to get on. You have to be ready. You have to have some plans on the table. That is why I have pleaded with this government, for eight years now, to get their climate change policy sorted out and to stop the arguing. Seriously; there are still people there arguing about the basic science of climate change.

You have to have a plan on the table that is going to take advantage of green hydrogen and that's going to take advantage of offshore wind. Finally, this week, we've seen a piece of legislation in this parliament. It has taken this government eight years to figure out that it needs some legislation to enable offshore wind to actually occur in this country.

We want to take advantage of the opportunities for high-end manufacturing. I don't want us just to have offshore wind farms; I want us to be manufacturing the towers and the blades that we currently have to buy from overseas. They are good, real, permanent jobs that we need. We've got to diversify our economic base; otherwise you leave carbon-intensive regions like mine hanging out to dry.

Mr DRUM (Nicholls—Chief Nationals Whip) (16:20): It's an interesting topic for this debate—that apparently this government has somehow or other abandoned the Australian resources industry. Looking at the facts, it couldn't be anything further from the truth. Our resources are demanding record prices. Thermal coal prices are soaring and gas prices are soaring. Quantities are up, so our exports are increasing. Employment numbers in the sector are high. Yet somehow or other the opposition thinks that we as a government have abandoned this sector. It is quite amazing, really.

When you listen to most of the opposition talk about this, you find it's not about the sector at all; it's about net zero 2050. Therefore, you look at the record of the government in relation to reducing emissions, and it is a fantastic record by any account. Our commitments under Kyoto 1 have been met and those under Kyoto 2 have been met. We were criticised relentlessly throughout all of those programs and told we were never going to meet those targets, but we did. We were criticised relentlessly and told we were never going to meet our Paris targets. They were saying, 'The only way you're ever going to meet those Paris targets is by some clever accounting, when you take over the surplus that you accumulated with Kyoto.' But that's not true either. We're going to meet our Paris commitments.

Now I'll look forward to some of the other things we're doing in relation to reducing emissions. Why doesn't anybody ever give this government credit for Australia being a nation that leads the world in rooftop solar, ahead of Germany and Japan? You can add those two together and they just equal the amount of rooftop solar that we have in Australia, on a per capita basis. The things that we are doing in agriculture, with additives and supplements to reduce the methane being emitted by stock, are, again, leading the world. There are the policies put in place by the Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia in relation to sequestering carbon within the soil, putting together some reserves on less productive farmland to ensure that we can sequester carbon within those timber reserves.

As the previous speaker from the coalition said, there are two ways that we can get to the place where we all want to be—that is, a clean environment. We could try to do it with taxes, and we know that that's the Labor way. But, Mr Deputy Speaker, look at the recent technology advancements in solar panels. Over the last five years the cost of solar panels has effectively halved, and their efficiency has doubled. We would be reasonably confident that we will get similar advancements in technology surrounding batteries and the technology surrounding hydrogen, but at the moment they're just not there. The advancements that we are yearning for simply do not exist. We're confident that that's where we're going. We're confident we'll get to where we want to be. If you want to just jump in with a blindfold on, good luck! But we don't want regional Australia to take on the same risk. It's only reasonable that the National Party, in looking after people in the most energy intensive areas and in looking after the poorest people in Australia, who have the most trouble paying their energy bills and who will be at risk if we put in place policies that force the cost of energy up, want to put in place safeguards. It is something that we feel very comfortable with. Yes, I think there's every chance that we will be in a situation where we do get the technology that we need. But, right at the moment, industry is charging ahead, and industry needs dispatchable power, and we simply don't have dispatchable power in our renewables at the moment. We haven't got Snowy Hydro 2.0 built. We haven't got enough battery within our solar farms. Our large scale-wind—we still don't have enough battery there. And effectively we haven't got hydrogen to where we need to get it.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Llew O'Brien ): The time for the discussion has concluded.

Mrs PHILLIPS (Gilmore) (16:30): [by video link] When the 2019-20 bushfires were raging in my electorate on the New South Wales South Coast it truly was an extraordinary time. The selfless efforts of our rural fire service volunteers and all our emergency services volunteers and workers were simply outstanding and something I know we are all incredibly proud of. The bushfires raged for months, lives were tragically lost and people were injured. Homes and businesses were gutted, roads and highways cut off and loved ones separated. I remember that time clearly, a highway cut off, the feeling of desperation and despair as everyone banded together.

The immediate need for a joint emergency services precinct was again highlighted during those catastrophic events of the 2019-20 Black Summer fires. In a small, much-loved community hall, the Moruya RSL Hall, you would find the makeshift Eurobodalla emergency operations centre, the place where emergency services would meet to coordinate the emergency response. Complete with Bunnings fold-up tables and extension power leads, the vital Moruya RFS incident management centre was in a different location, making communications and an integrated response more difficult.

The Eurobodalla council and emergency services agencies have been advocating for more than eight years for a modern co-located facility for emergency services agencies and their operations to be based in Moruya. It's worth noting here that there have been previous reviews of emergency operation centres across New South Wales and on each occasion the conclusion has been that a purpose made emergency services precinct is required in Moruya. The Eurobodalla, more specifically Moruya, remains without a satisfactory emergency operations centre. New South Wales RFS, New South Wales Ambulance and New South Wales fire and rescue facilities each have standalone facilities in Moruya that are no longer fit for purpose and are located on flood prone land. New South Wales SES is currently located within council's Moruya depot and will need to relocate in the future. It's a huge problem. That's why I'm calling on the federal government to help fund a new, dedicated emergency operations centre at Moruya as part of a regional co-located emergency services precinct.

Today I have launched a petition on my website asking people to join the fight for the emergency operations centre to be built. I know that Eurobodalla council is working in collaboration with the following state agencies in the development of the regional co-located emergency services precinct: New South Wales RFS, state planning office, regional planning office, local planning office, Moruya station, the incident management centre, the New South Wales SES, Moruya station training facilities and office, New South Wales Ambulance, Moruya station and office, the existing Eurobodalla emergency operations centre, local emergency management centres, agencies and non-government organisations. The precinct aims to house these stakeholders though the central emergency operations centre and training facility, providing a centre of excellence for emergency management.

The new emergency operations centre and emergency precinct is needed urgently. As soon as government funding is made available an agreed service provider can be engaged to commence delivery of the project. All emergency services agencies and councils support this project.

It's worth noting that 95 per cent of Eurobodalla citizens placed emergency services as the No. 1 issue for government to address. This proposal meets that need. Co-location of key emergency service agencies in high-tech, fit-for-purpose facilities will ensure supporting a contemporary future emergency response. Combined with the new Eurobodalla hospital and the existing Moruya TAFE, this precinct will also create a central employment hub, aligned with the proposed Moruya bypass. It will also boost local jobs.

The federal government has a $4 billion emergency disaster-mitigation fund for this very purpose. The fund has earned the government over $700 million in interest, with only $50 million spent. Now is the time for the federal government to release those funds to help build the new emergency operations centre and precinct at Moruya.

Mr GOODENOUGH (Moore) (16:35): Cybersecurity is a critical element of our national security. The Australian Cyber Security Centre, within the Australian Signals Directorate, leads the Australian government's efforts on national cybersecurity. According to the statistics contained in the latest ACSC threat report, cyberattacks are now occurring every eight minutes, compared to one every ten minutes last financial year. Malicious cyberactivity is on the rise. We need to face the reality that cybercriminals are getting smarter and hungrier for money and that they're looking to attack infrastructure providers in the higher education, medical and health, transport and telecommunications sectors. All of these major industries are situated within the electorate of Moore.

I recently visited Sapien Cyber, based in the new science building at the Joondalup campus of Edith Cowan University. Chief Executive Officer Glenn Murray and Chief Operating Officer Rochelle Fleming briefed me on contemporary cybersecurity issues and the ways in which the federal government can better enable our local business community to effectively prepare for and defend and respond against cyberincursions; protect against losses to business continuity; and safeguard against reputational and financial loss.

Sapien Cyber had its inception in research at Edith Cowan University. It is a collaboration of academics and industry experienced practitioners in the form of a new commercial-entity model, building upon the university's 20 years of world-leading research in cybersecurity. It is the only Australian owned and operated cybersecurity company focused on protecting critical infrastructure and working on operational technology.

I look forward to supporting the work of Sapien Cyber in the digital sphere by promoting public awareness of cybersecurity threats and advocating for greater funding in investment in order to better safeguard our IT infrastructure, which the economy of the future will be built upon. Infrastructure security is a focus area for Sapien Cyber, as the federal government works to expand the number of defined critical infrastructure sectors, from the current four to 11, under the Security Legislation Amendment (Critical Infrastructure) Bill 2021.

One particular area of expertise for Sapien is in the security of building-management systems, focusing on the medical and health sector in particular. Joondalup Health Campus is a major hospital within my electorate, and with the highest percentage of cyberattacks targeting the medical sector, we need to be more vigilant in protecting both the hospital itself and the patients within it from interference with building-management systems. Building-management systems centrally control access to buildings, the electrical supply, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, plumbing, fire systems, telecommunications and other key services within the building. Tampering with these systems can cause chaos, leading to potential loss of life.

One of my priorities is to constantly promote job opportunities for local residents. There is a huge deficit in skills in the cybersecurity space. With the City of Joondalup promoting itself as an emerging hub for cybersecurity, the necessary funding and investment for research and education needs to be attracted in order to develop nation-leading capabilities, which will drive long-term benefits for the industry and for the protection of our constituents and fellow Australians. Grassroots cybersecurity education is something we need to invest in to help fill the skills gap across Australia in this critical sector. With Sapien Cyber being a local Western Australian startup company with global reach, it's the perfect example of the type of business that requires further government funding and support for growth. In order for the Joondalup Learning Precinct to develop into a centre of excellence for innovation, technology, research and development, it is essential to attract greater levels of government funding and private sector investment. It is essential that graduates from cybersecurity courses are job ready and prepared to enter the workforce.

Mr DICK (Oxley) (16:40): I rise to give credit and thanks, congratulating Westside Christian College Principal Mr Barry Leverton on his retirement. He leaves service of this wonderful school after 24 years of faithful service. Barry's tenure as principal has seen the school go from strength to strength, and I'm sure his legacy will continue within the school community for many years to come. His tenure as principal was marked with compassion, faith and an overriding commitment to serving the Christian values of the college and the educational wellbeing of every single student. I wish Barry and his wife all the best for their retirement and I look forward to continuing to support Westside Christian College as they enter a new chapter with a new school leadership team in place.

I'd also like to extend my congratulations to the Jindalee Districts Australian Football and Netball Club, also known as the JAGs, on their 50th anniversary. While I will be quarantined while they celebrate this significant milestone and, sadly, won't be able to join them, I have had the honour of joining them for many presentation nights over my time as their local federal member. What stands out for me is their culture of inclusion and support, where kids are celebrated for their enthusiasm and effort along with their achievements. Congratulations to Wayne, Michael, Corey, Bill, Rob, David and so many volunteers in a fantastic year for the club even amongst the challenges we faced.

This club is consistently growing its ranks for many years, increasing the membership from 150 members just six years ago to 620 players today. They're particularly proud that 45 per cent of their players are now women and girls. Congratulations to the Jindalee JAGs on 50 years of success. I wish you luck for 50 more.

Another community group celebrating an anniversary recently is the Family Support Centre Inala. I was privileged to celebrate this milestone with many volunteers earlier this month alongside the great Queensland boxer Jeff Horn, who came along to support his wonderful mum, Lisa, who has worked at the centre for almost 18 years.

For over 20 years the centre has provided almost $3 million worth of support to over 50,000 in need. They provide financial assistance as well as things like food, furniture, emergency bill payments, education expenses, Christmas hampers, gifts, vouchers and so much more to our wider Inala community. I know from speaking to our local state member, to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and to her father, the Hon. Henry Palaszczuk, who helped establish the Inala Family Support Centre, just how valuable this centre is to our local community. These services make a real difference in the lives of people in our community, who are struggling, those who find themselves in times of crisis. The motto of the centre is, 'We turn nobody away.' The impact of their support upon the Inala community cannot be underestimated or understated.

I particularly want to acknowledge all of the hardworking volunteers who for so many years have served our community, particularly the conference President, Monica Tupicoff and her wonderful team of volunteers, who turn up each week, day in and day out, to support so many in our community, in particular many from non-English-speaking backgrounds who have come to Inala as their first home. They're always made to feel welcome and completely included. I recognise the dedicated work of all the volunteers past and present. I wish them a happy anniversary, and long may they continue the good work of the St Vincent de Paul Society in our community.

Ms HAMMOND (Curtin) (16:44): Johan, who is in his late sixties, has lived in the electorate of Curtin for years and, like so many others, Johan has family living overseas. During COVID, his sister's husband was diagnosed with and ultimately passed away from stage 4 cancer. They lived in South Africa. Unfortunately, due to travel restrictions, Johan was unable to travel to South Africa to attend his brother-in-law's funeral or to be by the side of his sister to give her support in her time of grief. Her grief was overwhelming and, tragically, Johan's glamorous, talented and devoted sister ended her own life soon after her husband's death. In speaking with me, Johan was quite matter of fact in saying that his sister was sacrificed for the greater good. However, in his own words, he also told me: 'I believe that the COVID situation has changed and, while the government has done a very good job in the past, and that intervention was sound philosophically and ethically, the change in situation puts a question as to the continuation of the ethical rightness. I call for a return of personal liberties that is no longer morally, philosophically and ethically acceptable to take away people's personal freedoms.'

Jo, in her fifties, has also lived in the electorate for decades. In her words: 'I've been cut off from my only child for too long. He has battled through life in New York without family, without hugs and without the support of Australia he should have got as a citizen. He is one of those who has been forgotten and vilified in the press here. The hate directed at Australians living overseas has been hard to take. The effect on my mental health and physical health has been substantially worse than I would have imagined, but the government doesn't care. Our family is just collateral damage and we are not listed in any numbers anywhere. We want our family reunited. We have done all the right things throughout—vaccinated as soon as possible and quarantined as required. We don't get any money from the government and my son gets nothing. We just want to be together.'

Ted, in his sixties, wrote me this, in part: 'A ship in the harbour is safe, but that's not what ships are for. Being denied the freedom to travel, even in your own country, when double vaccinated is not what life is for. The values of this government seem to be that a normal life is being able to have a beer at the pub or go to the footy, rather than being able to be with your family even in our own country at the end of life or other significant events. My father passed away last week and my brother, who is double vaccinated, could not be at his end of life. This is now affecting thousands of families. For many of us, the window to travel is a joy and this joy for many seniors is closing down. Seniors are being robbed of time. This virus is not going away. We need to learn to live with it and the price we pay for kicking that can down the road is enormous and it's particularly enormous for seniors.'

Pamela, born in Cottesloe, told me this: 'COVID-19 is not the only killer out there. Separation from family and friends during any of life's emotional crises and celebrations, things we once said we valued, delivers long-term psychological damage and immense distress. My very elderly mother lives in Perth. I live and have businesses in London. I stayed in Perth for 18 months to care for her during the pandemic at a cost to my business and personal life. I returned to England in late August to pick up the pieces against the then promised international border openings in time for Christmas family reunions. Now my mother has had a stroke and I'm desperate to be back but the premier has extended the state's hibernation from the world and soon probably the rest of Australia again. My 95-year-old mother cannot keep waiting for new conditions to arise and promised reunions to be broken'.

These are real Western Australians and real stories. These are our friends, neighbours and colleagues. Yes, we have been living a free life in Western Australia in many respects and it's been wonderful, but it has not been without cost. These stories are just the tip of the iceberg of those in WA who have been impacted by the border closures. We need our vaccination rates to increase. We need to ask for and be given a clear time frame as to when our borders will open. We need to ask for and be given a clear plan out. We need clarity, because there are so many of us who need hope.

Mr KHALIL (Wills) (16:49): Australia's closed international border has been so hard on many Australians, with families being separated. Australia is a very diverse multicultural nation, and Australians have family all over the world. I do. I've supported Australia's border measures as a health measure during this pandemic, but in many cases of family being separated I've been shocked by the lack of compassion, consistency and common sense. Hundreds if not thousands of people have reached out to me over the past 18 months since Australia's border closed, because they're unable to secure an exemption despite very compelling circumstances. One case that is particularly shocking is that of the Kenny family in my electorate whose seven-year-old son, Oliver, has been undergoing treatment for medulloblastoma. It started with vomiting, and for two months his parents shunted him between GPs and hospital trying to find the answers. Doctors found a 32 millimetre tumour on his brain, which had produced two small pea-like tumours on his spine. Medulloblastoma, a word most seven-year-olds can't pronounce, is life-threatening and requires intensive surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. It is a fast-growing and aggressive cancer. About 25 kids are diagnosed each year. Without medical intervention, Oliver could have had as little as two weeks to live. This is every parent's worst nightmare, and it was made much more difficult with Melbourne's lockdowns. While we complain about not seeing friends and family, not being able to go out, for the Kennys this has meant separation from their support systems, both friends and family, and the worry of the devastating implications of catching COVID and what that would do to Oliver.

Despite all this, Oliver's grandparents, who live in the UK, have been knocked back four times in the last year trying to get to Australia to support the family and Oliver—four times. They are both double-vaccinated with booster shots and are willing to comply with all quarantine requirements and costs. If Oliver's case doesn't qualify for compassionate circumstances, what is the point of even having these exemptions? It's mind-boggling. This is despite his family and his social worker at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne pleading with Border Force and saying that the emotional and practical support that his grandparents would provide to Oliver and the family would be critical. Thankfully, Oliver's medical team believe he may now be in remission. However, his grandparents are still hoping to travel to Australia to provide that support to the family. I've written, at the Kenny family's request, to the Australian Border Force and so has Oliver's medical team. Oliver's father, Kirk, has recently started a petition that has attracted thousands of supporters.

This is just one story of probably many thousands of stories, and hopefully we'll hear fewer and fewer such stories with our borders opening up and our high vaccination rates. I hope that, as our international border reopens, we also reopen to each other. Australia is one federated nation. We are no longer separate colonies. This Christmas, despite Australia being projected to meet the 80 per cent vaccination threshold, there will still be many families who are still stuck overseas and locked out from returning home, locked out from seeing their relatives and their loved ones. I feel for these families. People will be flying overseas, but someone in Melbourne won't be allowed to go to Perth. It speaks to the failure of national leadership in this place. We're all at fault: state premiers and territory chief ministers but also this place and the national leadership in here, our Prime Minister, our ministers, our government. I can't imagine Prime Minister Hawke or Prime Minister Keating or Prime Minister Howard vacating the field the way that this Prime Minister has done during this pandemic. I can't imagine any of those great prime ministers letting the state premiers dictate Australia's response to a global pandemic and standing for inconsistent state border rules: looking after their own people, yes, but not thinking about the bigger picture of the nation. I ask: how long will our Prime Minister let this go on for?

Mr WALLACE (Fisher) (16:54): On Sunday more than 4,500 residents in my electorate of Fisher gathered for a protest rally along the route of Sunshine Coast Council's proposed light rail project. Led by dedicated local campaign groups Mass Transit Action Group and the Beach Matters Group, they held signs that said, 'No light rail', 'Tell the council now' and 'Don't make us the Gold Coast'. I could not agree more with the thousands of my community and like-minded residents that spoke up so very clearly on the weekend. I thank Tracey Goodwin-McDonald and Rachael Bermingham for their roles in mounting this important protest. I also thank my state colleagues Jarrod Bleijie and Fiona Simpson. I was very disappointed not to be there—unfortunately, I had to travel down here, and was on a plane at the time of the rally, otherwise I would have been there with them.

Unfortunately, Sunshine Coast Council has totally ignored the voices of the many residents in my community who rightly oppose this ill-considered idea. Yesterday, council voted in majority to send their mass transit options paper to the Queensland state government, recommending light rail as a high-scoring option for consideration. Council clearly do not care what our community thinks. They are determined to blindly progress this project, whatever the views of the people that they are supposed to represent. I am just as determined to oppose this.

No-one could deny that public transport on the Sunshine Coast is in a parlous state. Thanks to decades of neglect from successive Queensland Labor state governments, our bus service is woefully inadequate and our century-old single-track rail line does not come within 20 kilometres of the coast's major population centres. However, in my view, and that of the many thousands of my constituents who rallied on Sunday, Sunshine Coast Council's $1.5 billion proposal for light rail is absolutely the wrong answer.

One of council's light rail proposals would run from Caloundra along Nicklin Way, through Kawana and along Alexandra Parade, finishing after 22 kilometres in the new Maroochydore city centre. That route continues to change throughout the years—now they're talking about maybe having it from Kawana to Maroochydore. In any event, Nicklin Way and Alexandra Parade are already heavily congested roads, and light rail would remove a lane each way for traffic. Light rail would not significantly reduce the number of cars using these roads when our population is so heavily decentralised throughout the region, yet it would halve the network's capacity to take cars. The consequences for our already heavily congested roads would, in my view, be disastrous.

Our community instead needs heavy rail on the CAMCOS corridor, and a significantly upgraded road and public transport network across the entire region which benefits all local residents. Servicing only a narrow strip of some 22 kilometres on one fixed light rail would do nothing for the vast bulk of Sunshine Coast residents. Most would be required to make the congested journey to drive to a light rail station in order to use it. Even those residents who lived along the rail would continue to require a car to reach the bulk of our community services and amenities, which are not located within walking distance of a proposed light rail station. Most importantly, light rail would also have disastrous consequences for the lifestyle along the Sunshine Coast's famous coastal strip.

Our community is differentiated from others by its low density, natural coastline and family-friendly living. Council's design for light rail includes proposals to significantly increase the permitted density of residences along the coastline between Caloundra and Maroochydore. This is expected to increase the population of this area, and my community is saying: 'No, Mayor. No, Sunshine Coast Council. This is not what we want.' Please listen to them.

House adjourned at 16:59