Senator HUGHES (New South Wales) (16:39): Now, theirs is a party that clings to the idea of globalisation, with open borders or no borders at all—just opening up all the countries across the world, or one world, or whatever it is that you believe, out on the fringes. They love to say that Australia should open up to whoever wants to come, whenever they want to come, with no need to embrace our Australian culture—in fact, they openly and actively talk Australians down. But, when it comes to climate change and the discussion around that, Australia can do it all and there's no need for any global response or participation by any other nation. There's no need for the rest of the world to participate at all! So they sit idly by—and perhaps it's because they've been superglued to something!—as their ideologically aligned China continues to build more and more coal-fired power stations. But perhaps Communist emissions don't count when it comes to this lot! I just don't see what other reason there could be. Here's the thing, though. I'll let you in on a little secret. If we, as a globe, are going to tackle global emissions, it needs to be a global effort. I know that sounds crazy and way out there and just a little bit too much for you all to handle, but half of the G20 member nations actually increased their emissions whilst Australia's fell faster than those of Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Korea or the United States. Yet, here we are, as you can contribute hot air, and pretty much that's it, to this current conversation. But you're well and truly keeping the current Leader of the Opposition company, as those opposite abandon their 2030 target and so, in effect, walk away from the Paris Agreement. When asked about this, all the current Leader of the Opposition could muster—and I do hope that I do this justice—was: 'Well, what we do is, in government, of course, what we're doing is that we're encouraging the current government.' I mean, um, thanks—I think! It seems to be hot air, indecision, paralysis and the beating of the leadership drum. I guess that, in part, could explain why, just last week, those opposite voted against the Technology Investment Roadmap. They voted against technology, because we know that, for those opposite, it's purely about taxes and nothing else. Not for us, on this side of the chamber; we're here for technology. We're looking to the future—investing in innovation; investing in our regions. I've personally been thrilled to see the $20 billion that's been invested by the Morrison government across the country up to 2030, and this $20 billion over the next decade will drive $80 billion of total public and private investment over the decade. This investment will create around 160,000 new jobs. But yes, sure—you guys over on the other side, you just keep on voting against those jobs! And keep on voting against the jobs of those workers in the Hunter region, as you walk away from the miners, but, on top of that, walk away from the energy hub that the Hunter region is becoming—all as you continue to march to the drum of the inner city latte left. Not us, on this side; we are looking at technology, not taxes; not destroying jobs or imposing taxes and new costs on households, businesses or industries. In fact, in the Hunter, we have organisations like Batt Mobile and Energy Renaissance, as the region moves towards becoming a hydrogen hub, with partnerships between industry and the University of Newcastle. So I thought I might take the time to explain to you what some of this investment looks like and what some of this innovation looks like, because I'm not quite sure the intellectual fortitude and the depth of understanding exist for you to understand how some of these things look. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator O'Neill ): Order! Senator Hughes, could you make your remarks through the chair and cease using the word 'you'? Thank you. Senator HUGHES: Thank you, Chair. I apologise. I will just explain a few things around some of the innovations that we have invested in. We all know that Australia's resources sector is world class. And through the Morrison government's $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative we're actually helping to unlock enormous potential by providing targeted supports for projects that would deliver big rewards for local economies, not only creating more jobs but also generating export opportunities. In July we announced a grant of $4½ million for Batt Mobile Equipment in the Hunter to build heavy battery electric vehicles for underground hard-rock mines. This will deliver Australia's first commercially operationally viable alternative to a diesel fleet. It will catalyse the electrification of global hard-rock mines and deliver emissions reduction as well as safety and productivity outcomes. One of my favourite organisations that's showing itself to be so innovative throughout the Hunter region is a company called Energy Renaissance. They've been working some great partnerships with the CSIRO, amongst others. They're demonstrating that here in Australia we have all the right skills, natural resources and expertise, and an abundance of solar energy, to create batteries and a renewables manufacturing hub. We know that the economic impact of COVID has created a greater urgency to build industries, create jobs and accelerate our economic recovery, and Energy Renaissance has seen this opportunity for battery manufacturing to take the lead in this. They're building an exciting future where the world is powered by clean, stored energy everywhere, and they're building it right here in Australia. Back in 2017 Energy Renaissance announced that they would develop Australia's first advanced lithium iron battery manufacturing facility, with funding from private investors and their foundation customers. They're continuing to work with the CSIRO and technology partner Cadenza Innovation as they ramp up their capabilities and capacity to manufacture batteries in Australia that are safe, affordable and optimised to perform in hot climates. The company's supercell and superstorage family of products are designed to perform in hot climates and to be used to power infrastructure, buildings, businesses and homes in both stationary and transport applications. I was absolutely thrilled to visit the site twice this year, including turning the first sod of what will be the lithium iron battery manufacturing centre. This scale and the anticipated market will see their export opportunities grow to an estimated contribution of around $3 billion per annum once our battery market is up and exporting across the world. Hydrogen hubs are something else the Morrison government is focused on. For those who don't understand, hydrogen is actually a zero-emissions gas. Yet when we wanted to invest in the technology road map and we wanted to look at technology, not taxes, those opposite were more upset about hydrogen, I think, than they were about coal. I just don't understand what's wrong with you people. We know you don't like nuclear and won't put it back on the table at all— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Hughes, can I just remind you about the inappropriate use of the word 'you' in that context. Make your remarks to the chair. Senator HUGHES: Those opposite aren't very focused on looking at actual zero-emissions forms of technology, including things like nuclear. The ideological opposition of those opposite is longstanding—it's nice to see that something in their value proposition is longstanding. There is a continued opposition to hydrogen hubs and net-zero-emissions gas, an opportunity for the regions to develop jobs where we have plenty of natural resources. In fact, the great thing about hydrogen is that it can actually contribute to our waste reduction. There's another company up in the Hunter that is looking to burn excess timber products—waste timber—and create a hydrogen hub and generate more and more energy for that region. It's nice to think that from those opposite we at least have one member, the member for Hunter—Mr Fitzgibbon, out there on his own. He must be just thrilled, listening to Senator Faruqi talking about a shared power arrangement. I can't wait to catch up with the member for Hunter for that one! I might have to expedite that membership form to him sooner rather than later. I think he's the only one opposite who still understands that mining has a future in this country. (Time expired)