Senator McDONALD (Queensland) (16:11): I welcome this notice of motion from Senator Whish-Wilson because it gives us an opportunity to have a real discussion, a real debate about what is happening in Australia and in the world, and to talk about practical measures, not ideology. If I can, I will start with the Great Barrier Reef. Once again, there's this hysterical kind of discussion. It's about only ever wanting to listen to one side of what they hear. The latest bleaching has shown that, of the 3,000 estimated reefs across the Great Barrier Reef, only 300 reefs have been surveyed. Not all areas have been surveyed; only shallow reefs have been surveyed, not deepwater ones. Not all of them have been bleached yet, if we were to listen to these hysterical words from a Tasmanian senator, this is a disaster. In actual fact, we are coming off record coral cover over the last two years. This is something that the Greens don't want to acknowledge and won't acknowledge. Roger Beeden, the chief scientist at GBRMPA, in a press release this month, said: It is important to note, that the heat stress has not been even across the Reef, and the coral bleaching observed is variable. … … … The Reef has demonstrated its capacity to recover from previous coral bleaching events … And the AIMS report states that bleaching in 2021-22 did not result in widespread mortality. People must remember that bleaching doesn't automatically mean death. It's great to see this news, because the Great Barrier Reef is one of the best-managed reefs in the world. I listened carefully to the last contribution. There was never any acknowledgement of the work done in the last term of government. There is the contribution, too—and this is something that Labor people will never talk about because they have overseen this in Queensland for the last 30 of 35 years—of the impact on the Great Barrier Reef of sewage in water streams. It is always farmers who are damaging the Great Barrier Reef. They pour all of their attention and effort into that, but they won't look at funding and supporting councils to improve their sewerage systems and do some practical measures. What is happening on the Great Barrier Reef is not the hysterical crisis that the Greens would have you believe. I was just thinking back over my lifetime. We had 'the end of the world is nigh' due to pollution in the 1970s. Guess what? Human ingenuity and technology cleaned up the air. We had the hole in the ozone layer. That was going to kill us. Guess what? That's closed over. We've had global cooling, the ice ages and global warming. Everything is unprecedented and people are exhausted. They're exhausted from the hysteria and they're desperate to have balanced media coverage that provides an opportunity for humans to stay positive. I am positive. I am positive that, over thousands of years, humans have innovated. Humans have improved on their condition. Humans are always able to come up with a solution, and I feel confident that we will continue to do that. That's what I tell my children, because I am positive about the future. I'm also positive about a future that has fossil fuels. It's shocking, isn't it? But I feel we have a moral imperative to continue to provide electricity, not just in this country but around the world. Senator Steele-John: Is this serious? Senator McDONALD: I listened in respectful silence to others. It is no surprise— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Polley ): Senator McDonald, please sit down. Can I just remind, yet again, those down in the back corner, the Greens, that others in this chamber listened in silence to your contribution, Senator Whish-Wilson. Senator Whish-Wilson: I didn't say anything. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: And if you intend to make a contribution, Senator Steele-John, I'm sure you would expect the same respect in return. Senator McDonald, you have the call. Senator McDONALD: We have a responsibility to provide electricity, not just here but around the world, and particularly in those nations where they're currently forced to turn to burning fuel or burning dung—using the most expensive and polluting methods that they can get their hands on in order to have the basics. A specialist in Queensland told me a story that reminded me of this just the other day. He and his family emigrated from Kolkata. They took his younger brother to the hospital one evening, and at the hospital, which was experiencing intermittent power, they weren't able to do a scan of this child. They weren't able to examine him, and they sent him home with the family, where he died. He died of appendicitis—a burst appendix. This is shocking. So, when he came to Australia and studied and became a specialist, that is a reminder that electricity—reliable, affordable electricity—saves lives. And we will only be able to do that with the continuation of coal-fired power and gas plants for the foreseeable future, because whilst there is this belief that we will be able to transition to renewable energy, whilst the Labor government has just agreed that China will be able to dump wind turbines on our shores, we do not have the technical capacity, and everybody agrees with that. There is nobody who will tell you that there is battery storage that will provide more than 20 minutes at the best. There is nobody who will genuinely tell you that hydrogen, renewable energy or batteries are in any way able to provide reliable and affordable electricity to Australia or anywhere else in the world in the foreseeable future, and so I do believe we have a moral imperative to continue providing affordable, reliable electricity. And let's not forget that in Australia it is the big three that pay for us to have the first-world lifestyle that we have—the big three gorillas of iron ore, gas and coal, and the only difference is the order in which they appear. It is their royalties, their company taxes, the PAYG taxes from the people they employ, and their community contributions that pay for all of the services that we enjoy. The very idea that we would be driving off investment in those industries is economic vandalism. It would be disastrous for this country—40 per cent of all company tax that pays for all of the services and the amenities that we all enjoy, and 1.1 million Australian jobs, jobs that will not readily transfer to polishing solar panels. Only gas will prevent us having blackouts as early as next winter. That's shocking, isn't it? Next winter we are projected to have blackouts, and that is from the AEMO report that came out yesterday. We will have shortfalls from 2026. That is not 10 years away; that is a heartbeat away. Labor has been in government for two years and our gas shortfall is coming ever closer—nothing except fund the EDO to attack resource projects. Senator Farrell: Yes, because you didn't do anything about it for 10 years. Senator McDONALD: I'll take that interjection from Senator O'Farrell because he is so wrong— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Farrell, on a point of order? Senator Farrell: At least the senator could call me by my correct name. My correct name is Farrell, not O'Farrell. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator Farrell. Senator McDonald, you have the call. You may continue. Senator McDONALD: I apologise that you misheard me. I do very clearly know that your name is Senator Farrell. Minister Farrell, the reason you are wrong is because every well must be maintained, and the lack of investment and lack of flow in the Bass Strait—one of our great reserves—means we are now down 50 per cent on production in those places since you came to government, and there are no new projects coming to market. We have great projects like Senex—not approved under your government. We have great domestic projects like Tamboran and in the Beetaloo—not approved under your government. We have offshore projects that have been delayed because they have not been approved under your government. This has got nothing to do with anybody else but your government and your failure to act to bring more gas to the market. It will result in fewer Australian jobs, and we are seeing that right now—Sealy International, 125 jobs; Sorbent, 70 jobs now going offshore to Indonesia. We can give thanks that those companies were able to survive COVID but they won't survive under a Labor government. That is shocking. There is risk of more jobs going if Labor is not prepared to fix the gas market. It is ludicrous that the Greens are talking about cutting more gas because this isn't about an ideology; this is about people. This is about Australians—mums and dads—sitting around the table, deciding how they are going to earn a crust, put food on the table and live their lives. Because coal and gas aren't just energy; they are manufacturing. Industry, steel, glass, bricks, everything, can only be generated from the energy that these things are bring. I welcome the opportunity to have these discussions. Because the hysterical urgency coming from Minister Bowen, these damning policies will mean Australians would have fewer jobs, less manufacturing, higher costs of living, lower quality of life. These are coming like a train. We have been warning for two years about what is happening in the gas market and now those warnings are coming to fruition. I'm shocked that, as a responsible government, they are not heeding the advice of Treasury, of other officials, of independent agencies like AEMO. This is not me saying it; this is your very own agencies ringing the bell—warning, warning, warning, we are going onto the rocks! The hysterical comments from the Greens will impact Australians in a worse outcome than you can imagine. We used to have a balanced debate in this place but now the hysterical activism, the lack of widespread newspapers and news shows means that Australians are having to resort to getting their media from social media, from the clips that the Greens will be taking from their motion today. That is what they are doing. This is a fundraising activity, this motion. It is not about addressing the rushed policies that are facing Australia and the very real danger and damage that these policies are doing to us all. I'm not sure what else we can do apart from warn, tell Australians. In the case of the Queensland election, another Queensland senator was trying to appeal to Queenslanders to think about their vote. I do the same because it is only with us continuing to do the great job that we do in mining, in gas production—we have a responsibility to the world to produce the lowest emission, highest calorific coal and clean gas that we do to assist our allies and our neighbours with not burning dirtier fuel. That's what increases world emissions. If that's what your biggest worry is then you should be encouraging Australian mining—mining that pays royalties and taxes, employs millions of Australians and ensures that we have a great quality of life. I don't support this motion. It will be no surprise by this point. It is a pointless waste of effort apart from the fact that we get to talk about it. The Great Barrier Reef is not dead and dying, as the Greens would have you believe. New coal, oil and gas mines are actually useful and a moral imperative for this country for the rest of the world. I don't support this motion, I can't support this motion and I know that Australians across this country are begging the Greens to stop their hysterical arguments, calm down and assist them with living the best lives that they can.