September 17, 2009
The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester has accused the Federal Government of hiding the costs of the government’s Emissions Trading Scheme and its likely impacts on jobs and the cost of living in Gippsland.
Mr Chester has challenged the Prime Minister to be honest with the Australian public and told Federal Parliament it is ridiculous to suggest that our nation, acting alone, can actually achieve significant environmental benefits.
“Given that our nation’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions is less than two per cent, we need to be extremely mindful of the international effort,” Mr Chester told Parliament.
“The government must take time to accurately model the likely impacts and come clean with the Australian public. We need to be telling Australians what the costs will be in terms of potential job losses, energy prices, fuel prices and the overall cost of living.
“We are very much at the pointy end of this debate. They are our jobs that will be directly affected in the oil and gas industry, in agriculture and, most significantly, in the power
industry in the Latrobe Valley.
“I am concerned that the Prime Minister stands in this place and talks about saving Kakadu and the Great Barrier Reef, but he never talks about the cost.
“It is a ridiculous proposition in any case. As if Australia acting alone can actually achieve anything that will come remotely close to saving Kakadu or the Great Barrier Reef given our total contribution of less than two per cent to total global emissions. It is farcical for the Prime Minister to stand in this place and make those claims.
“I call on the Prime Minister to start being more honest with the Australian community about what can really be achieved by Australia taking action in this manner and what the costs will really be.”
Mr Chester said the challenges of climate change needed to be addressed from a position of economic strength.
“I do not believe it is in anyone’s interest to jeopardise the economic viability of the power generators in Latrobe Valley by moving too fast or by placing too heavy a burden on their operations,” Mr Chester said.
“I have met with the power generators in Latrobe Valley and I understand the government has too, but was anyone actually listening on the government’s side of the table?
“The essence of their arguments relates to the need for certainty in the ongoing financial viability of the existing assets.
“In an environment where there is global economic uncertainty and the generators are seeking to refinance billions of dollars to continue their operation, there needs to be sufficient information for investors to commit to long-lived capital assets.
“The industry is trying to engage with the government and so is the Opposition. We do have time to get this right and the government must take the time to fully inform the community about the impact of this legislation.
“We must not get ahead of ourselves and place Australian jobs at risk.
“If we rush down the path of the Rudd government’s model, we run the risk of sending our jobs overseas to countries which do not have an emissions trading scheme, and our economic circumstances will deteriorate.
“We must stand up for jobs in our regions.”