QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Mr BOWEN (McMahon—Minister for Climate Change and Energy) (14:28): I thank the honourable member for the question. I can confirm that the Fiji energy system does primarily run on fossil fuels. Yes, absolutely, that is the case.

It is something the Fiji government is very keen to remedy. It is something the government of Palau is very keen to remedy something. It is something that governments around the Pacific are keen to deal with, because some Pacific islands spend 25 per cent of their GDP on fossil fuel imports, and they know that reducing their emissions is good for the climate and good for their economy and good for their sovereignty.

So we are working with the Pacific. We are working with the president of Palau, who was here earlier this week, to help them on the transformation of their energy system. Now, in relation to the cost of pre-COP, of course, it's a matter of public record that the Australian government financed and paid for pre-COP out of the reallocation of the $500 million for international climate discussions that the member for Hume had allocated when he did my job.

He had half a billion dollars allocated for international relations as they repaired the damage of the Glasgow COP. We are spending that money better. Mr BOWEN: Whether it is Fiji or Tuvalu or Palau, they are all powered by diesel, and they're all trying to change that.

So that's a great revelation—something you could look up on Wikipedia—that, yes, Pacific islands are powered by diesel, primarily, something they are trying to change. This question from the Manager of Opposition Business and the tenor of the comments from the opposition all week have underlined two things. Mr BOWEN: The coalition does not support climate action domestically or abroad, and they show utter contempt for the Pacific.

They show utter contempt and arrogance for the Pacific. The member for Hume called pre-COP 'boring'. Tell that to Melelusi, a year 8 student at Tuvalu who spoke to the Prime Minister and me and ministers and prime ministers and presidents about what's at stake for her and her future and her country.

Tell that to the minister for climate change of Tuvalu, who is in the building today, who has said the visit to Tuvalu was important in showing what is at stake for their country as Australia is working with them to deal with land reclamation. The member for Wannon and the member for Hume have shown utter contempt, as well as the Leader of the National Party, who criticised the Prime Minister and me for going to Fiji and wearing what we were asked to wear by the Fijian government and called them Hawaiian shirts.

Fiji is not Hawaii. They are different countries. We will work with the people of the Pacific.

We honour and respect our Pacific family and those from Samoa who we welcome to the chamber. We welcomed the President of Palau earlier this week, and we welcome the minister for climate change of Tuvalu. We don't joke about climate change in the Pacific.

We don't crack jokes about rising sea levels. We work with our Pacific family, and you should be ashamed of yourselves. (Time expired)