QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS

Senator ROBERTS (Queensland) (15:33): I move: That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Gallagher) to a question without notice I asked today relating to Snowy 2.0. I take note of Minister Gallagher's response—it wasn't an answer—to my question regarding the urgent need to close down Snowy Hydro 2.0 before it sends us broke.

Robert Gottliebsen, not a man to be taken lightly, has projected the cost of this project at over $1 trillion after allowing for capital costs, maintenance, transmission line construction and maintenance costs, industrial solar and wind installations necessary to provide the power, and regular renewal of these renewables—because they only last 15 years—from now until the project is finished and paid for, likely in 2060.

Then add in the annual subsidies, because Snowy 2.0 will always run at a loss and you'll be paying for it. How much will the power have to be priced at to get our money back? They don't know.

They're making this up as they go along. What a metaphor for the whole so-called net zero transition, a transition to poverty! One Nation will close this project down, remediate the environmental damage and replace the generation of power with beautiful, clean coal-fired power, lowering the cost of living for all Australians and helping us balance the budget.

Question agreed to.