Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Maybe if the member for McMillan wants to talk about water consumption, he could talk to the Prime Minister about his personal use at the Lodge and Kirribilli House. We have learnt at Senate estimates that 8.9 million litres of water were used at the two prime ministerial residences in the last financial year. That is about 170,000 litres a week or 24,500 litres a day—24,500 litres a day at the Prime Minister’s residences. If you want to do something about conserving water, talk to the Prime Minister about his prime ministerial use. Melbourne Water suggests households should aim to use less than 1,200 litres per person per week—and we see 24,500 litres being used each day at the two Prime Minister’s residences. Also, if the member for McMillan wants talk about alternative fuels and ensuring that we have electricity, maybe he should not be such an opponent of wind farming; maybe he should look at the alternatives out there and not just at his own electoral fortunes.

Climate change is the greatest challenge facing our nation today. We need to address climate change now because the costs of doing nothing are far greater than the costs of taking action. Mr Howard and Mr Costello have failed to rise to the challenge of climate change. They have adopted the attitude: ‘If we ignore it, it will go away.’ The climate change challenge will not go away. The consequences of climate change for Australia, and for the planet, will be catastrophic. And the failure of the Prime Minister and the Treasurer to acknowledge the magnitude of the climate change challenge will ultimately cost Australian jobs and hurt the Australian economy. Mr Howard has known since 1995 that climate change was a huge threat to Australia but has denied the problem even exists.

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