Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The issue of climate change is an issue of enormous importance to all Australians. I would like to demonstrate this by talking about two emails that I have received. The first email started with the line:

... I have been a supporter of the Liberal-Country Party for a long time, but I have to admit that my support is very much with Kim Beasley in expressing dismay at the response of the Prime Minister re the Stern Report on Global Warming today.

The author says that he is ‘amazed and disappointed’ that the government has failed to support people in their endeavours to get the greenest possible cars and that its support has only come in the conversion of cars as opposed to incentives and support for people like himself who have chosen and bought cars in a very sensible way because they are ‘very green’ cars. He says that he is very disappointed in the way the government has handled the issue of ethanol. He finishes by saying that he will certainly support the Labor Party if it continues to give strong leadership in regard to climate change.

The writer of the other email that I received said ‘Howard has now handed the ALP the next election because of his attitude to climate change’—provided that the Labor Party support renewable and sustainable energy, which we do, and take a ‘no nuclear’ approach, which we certainly support. He goes on to say that we should all be doing more about reducing greenhouse gas emissions. He feels in relation to Kyoto that the Prime Minister has shown that he is ‘a follower not a leader’ and is prepared to be as mediocre as possible rather than showing leadership. He concludes his email by saying:

Good luck. We can't afford to have another federal Liberal government.

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