QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS

Senator ANTIC (South Australia) (15:10): Well, in the least surprising news of anything this week, it appears that an all-expenses-paid trip to Fiji with the Prime Minister and the Minister for Climate Change, Minister Bowen, is not all that enticing to world leaders all over the region and the planet. I think there have been invites put out to all of— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Antic, we do need to be relevant to the questions that were asked by the coalition.

Senator ANTIC: The economy, yes. Senator Cash: It's relevant to the economy. Senator Scarr: He's just getting started.

Senator ANTIC: It is relevant though. Deputy President, I appreciate your diligence and knowledge of the rules, but I have just started. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: It seemed to be a fair way off, but I will listen with interest.

Senator ANTIC: Well, of course, the point of the exercise is that, in order to facilitate it, there has been the proposed expenditure of $20 million of Australian taxpayer money. You would think, when it came to legitimate spends in our economy, that would be not the highest priority for this government right now. It is $20 million at a time when Australians can't pay their mortgages, can't pay their rent.

Some can't turn on their lights because of the energy costs in this country—the $275 rebate that never was. But of course, what it does remind us of is that, despite this incredible spending, we're talking about spending something like a trillion dollars in the coming years over transmission lines. We heard news this week that Australian marine scientists are releasing their annual audit of the Great Barrier Reef, which shows that, in actual fact, despite all that spend in an economy which can't afford it, the coral reef is steadily growing across the system.

In fact, in the last 40 years, despite the incredible spending that this government has put into this area, the last five years have been the best five years for the reef. So what is this government talking about when it comes to spending money on going to Fiji for an all-expenses-paid trip? Let's just repeat that, by the way: the last five years of the Great Barrier Reef have been the best five years in terms of the growth of the Great Barrier Reef.

It's like the scientists measured it, nature shrugged and the apocalypse failed its performance review. Models in 2012 predicted that the coral would vanish by 2022, and here we are. Newspapers wrote the obituaries.

Governments wrote the cheques. Magazines declared the reef officially deceased after 25 billion years. Cue the sad violin music, cue the spending spree from government, but none of it is eventuating.

The coral apparently hasn't subscribed to the right journals over the last few years. It went on a growth spurt. Now, you can hear the government saying, 'Well, you know, that may be true.

It may be true that the coral is growing. It may be true that we've got more coral than ever. But the outlook looks very poor notwithstanding that, so let's pack ourselves off to Fiji.' It'll probably be just the three of them by the time they get there. 'Let's put $20 million worth of taxpayers' money into the back pocket, and let's take ourselves over there.' Governments all across the world have spent billions of dollars over the last few years on this area of so-called climate change.

It's almost like it's gone silent, though, as a result of the intervention of the AI data centre theme.It's like the memo hasn't been picked up by Minister Bowen, who still thinks that this is a way he can write a cheque for himself and his friends to turn up in Fiji in Hawaiian shirts and take the taxpayer largesse as if it were his own money and as if he were writing his own cheque.

So let's check back next August and see how the coral's going. The planet's funeral keeps getting delayed because, of course, climate change is the real conspiracy theory. (Time expired) The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: I will just remind all senators that we do need to be relevant to the questions asked and answered.

We do allow wide-ranging debates, but they need to be linked to the questions.