I would also like to thank the Minister for Climate Change and Energy for his very constructive engagement and communication about this bill.

My first amendment aims to introduce integrity into the selection process for major appointments to climate related Commonwealth bodies. Earlier this month I introduced a private member's bill called the Transparent and Quality Public Appointments Bill 2023—my 'ending jobs for mates' bill. That bill is currently before the House and is about restoring integrity and trust in politics. Australians deserve to be able to trust the institutions which underpin our democracy, so it is crucial that the appointment process for important public positions be not only based on expertise but also transparent and free from undue political interference. My bill sets out a process to achieve just that.

The climate sector has not been immune from questionable appointments to major positions, not by a long shot. The current chair of the Climate Change Authority—the authority tasked with providing expert advice to the Australian government on our response to climate change—is a former fossil fuel executive. How can such an appointment not inherently bias the advice of that authority? So in line with my campaign to end the jobs for mates culture in Canberra I am moving amendments to this safeguarding mechanism legislation to introduce a straightforward and independent selection process for appointments to the Climate Change Authority, the Clean Energy Regulator and the currently called emissions reduction assurance committee.

We must be able to trust decisions and the advice flowing from these critical bodies on this most critical of issues at this most critical of times. Currently, the ties between the government and the fossil fuel industry and their donors and lobbyists and carbon credit training bodies is all a little bit too close. The process I am proposing is simple and will be familiar to all Australians who have ever applied for a job. First is the public advertising of the selection criteria for the position. This is to be followed by an assessment of the applications by an independent selection panel and then the shortlisting of at least three people for the appointment, following which the minister is required to choose a person from that list and only that list. We need experts on these bodies who will provide frank and fearless advice. The appointment process such as this, which is at arm's length from the minister but which also maintains their final discretion, is the only way we can have confidence that the right people with the right expertise are being appointed, not more party-friendly appointments who are more likely to do the bidding of the party or feel obliged to return their favours.

But it is my second amendment which is more important and more urgent. It is urgent and necessary because this safeguard mechanism in its current form does almost nothing to address this country's addiction to fossil fuels, an addiction which the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has described as a mutually assured destruction, an addiction which the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has repeatedly told us over the last few years must end. This warning was reiterated loud and clear as recently as last week in its latest report, and the message is simple: there must be no new oil, gas or coal projects or expansions if we are to leave a planet that is liveable for future generations. The UN, the International Energy Agency agrees and even the Pope agree. It is clear what needs to be done.

However, there are more than 100 new coal and gas projects in the approvals pipeline. The government has already approved an extension to one of the world's worst polluting project on the planet, the Scarborough gas fields in WA. If all these projects proceed, the government will be doing a major disservice to people of Australia, who voted overwhelmingly at the last election for strong action and leadership on climate change.

My second amendment is this: that all new expanded or extended fossil fuel projects or facilities must be net zero carbon from day one and throughout the life of the facility. Australia's future and the planet's future depend upon us ending our addiction to fossil fuels, so I urge everyone in this House to support these constructive and common-sense amendments.