ADJOURNMENT

Senator BELL (New South Wales—Pauline Hanson's One Nation Whip) (20:42): This is not my first speech, maiden speech. Net zero is destroying our country, and there is no better example than Tomago Aluminium in New South Wales. This is Australia's largest aluminium smelter, and it is on the brink of collapse.

Why? It is because power prices are set to double when their contract ends in 2028 and Labor is shutting down coal and replacing it with unreliable, expensive wind and solar. Tomago's current deal depends on affordable base load power from coal, but, with that being torn down and renewables driving up market prices, the next contract will cost a fortune.

This is a direct result of Labor's obsession with net zero. Over a thousand workers are now in the firing line. Tomago is one of the last major manufacturers left in this country, and Labor looks ready to finish it off.

Labor talks about a future made in Australia, but what we're seeing is a decline made in Canberra, wrapped in a green ribbon, stamped with UN approval and paid for by struggling Australian families. Manufacturing is being crushed by net zero. Labor, the Liberals and their obsession with unrealistic climate targets are driving up prices, destroying jobs and weakening our nation.

I want to thank Patrick Enright, from the Hunter region, who wrote to my office. I believe he said this well: 'Businesses and workers of the Hunter are suffering at the hands of the net zero fantasy. We in the Hunter produce some of the cleanest coal in the world.

We should burn it here and make cheap, clean, affordable electricity in Australia. The 66 per cent of Australians who didn't vote for incompetence need saving from this government and their net zero destruction.' Patrick is right. I've recently visited the Hunter.

I've spoken to the locals, and they are yelling from the rooftops, 'Scrap net zero.' I am proud to say One Nation hears you and we will scrap net zero. We will back reliable base load power. We will deliver cheaper electricity for Australians.

Labor's green ideology is fuelling the cost-of-living crisis, destroying industries and threatening our nation's very sovereignty. One Nation will never back down. We will keep fighting for Australian workers, our manufacturing, farmers and families, because this country needs a future where Australians come first.

Australia's childcare system is in crisis. When you place your child in someone else's care, especially through a system built by government and paid for by families, there is one basic expectation: you trust your child will be safe. Right now, that trust is being shattered.

Following a damning Four Corners investigation, it's been revealed that at least 150 childcare workers have been charged, convicted or accused of sexually abusing children. That is not a few bad apples; that is a systemic failure, that is a national disgrace and it shows that predators are intentionally exploiting the system to abuse children. As a parent, I find it sickening, and I believe that every parent in this country feels the same.

This childcare system that we currently have in Australia, built by the major parties, has left families with no real choices. They've made it near impossible to survive on one income, so parents are now pushed to hand over their children to strangers in overcrowded, understaffed centres with paper-thin oversight and little true accountability. Our childcare system isn't just broken; it is dangerous.

Staff are rushed through training, corners are cut, warnings are ignored and predators are slipping through the cracks. I acknowledge there are currently inquiries underway, but, in light of what's emerged, they do not go far enough. The people of Australia expect predators to be put behind bars, centres to be shut down and those who let this happen held to account—no more cover-ups and no more second chances.

If you harm a child, cover up the crimes or protect someone who has, you should never work with children again and you should face criminal charges. That is what Australians expect, and One Nation agrees. That is why we will keep fighting until families have real choice—the choice to raise their children in a safe, decent environment, not to be pushed into a dangerous industry because government has made it too hard to live on one income.

This is about our children, their safety, their innocence and their future. One Nation will not stand by while they're sacrificed to a system that protects predators, punishes parents and abuses them. I will just finish by going to this.

As many Australians are now aware, there has been a tragic incident in far west New South Wales. Two mineworkers have lost their lives and a third has been injured following an explosion at the Endeavor Mine near Cobar. I have friends and family who work in mining.

When something like this happens, it hits hard because, in this industry, the crews don't just work together; they look after each other, they go under ground as mates and they expect to come back together. For two families, that hasn't happened and, for an entire community, there is now a deep sense of shock and grief. These weren't just workers; they were people with lives, plans and loved ones who are now facing the unthinkable.

Cobar is one of the many regional towns that keeps this country running. The Endeavor Mine produces silver, zinc and lead, minerals that keep our economy moving and our essential services functioning. The people who do this work aren't just helping their own communities; they are building the future of this country.

They do it quietly, working long shifts in tough conditions, with little recognition. But it's their work that generates that revenue that pays for our hospitals, schools and roads. It is their work that builds our nation's future.

So, today, I just want to say thank you—thank you to the workers who show up day after day to do this hard work that keeps this country going, thank you to the families who carry that quiet worry every time their loved ones go to work and thank you to those communities that keep going and hold each other up whenever tragedy hits. My thoughts are with the injured worker, with the loved ones of those who didn't come home and with the Cobar community as they come to terms with what's happened.

We honour the lost workers, we stand with the town and we thank every miner in this country for the work they do not just for themselves but for all of us.