John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

and I notice the Minister for Health and Ageing is supporting what I am saying here tonight, and I appreciate that. There can be absolutely no doubt that climate change is one of the most significant challenges facing Australia and our government, and indeed the world, in the 21st century, and I am pleased to restate this evening that the Rudd government is committed to responding to those challenges.

Government action on climate change must be multifaceted. This approach includes investing in green infrastructure such as wind, solar and geothermal energy, promoting innovation to develop low-pollution technology and supporting businesses and households to improve their energy efficiency. The implementation of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is another important measure to address this great environmental challenge. The scheme, which puts a cost on carbon pollution and encourages major polluting corporations to lower their emissions, is at the core of our plan to limit the potentially detrimental effects of climate change.

Overwhelmingly, scientists throughout the world agree that our climate is changing and that human activity is the major cause of this. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported that warming of the climate system is unequivocal. The report goes on to say:

Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic (human) greenhouse gas concentrations;

In the face of the overwhelming consensus among scientists, it astounds me that many members of the opposition continue to doubt that climate change even exists. The decision by the coalition to delay the passage of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme legislation merely reflects the climate change scepticism that is rampant among the opposition benches. When the member for Wentworth, Mr Malcolm Turnbull, became the Leader of the Opposition last year, I was of the view that the Liberal Party finally had a leader who would fully support government action on climate change. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Tragically, the climate sceptics continue to control the Liberal Party.

In light of the opposition’s intention to delay action, I think it is timely to consider some of the likely impacts if the challenge posed by climate change is left unaddressed. Following the devastating bushfires in Victoria and the floods in Queensland and northern New South Wales earlier this year, the respected scientist and former Australian of the Year, Professor Tim Flannery, wrote an article in the Fairfax press about the continuing and growing risk of climate change. In that article, Professor Flannery called for urgent action to reduce emissions to prevent an even worse situation in the future. Moreover, there is general consensus that climate change will turn the Murray-Darling Basin barren. Critically, the basin serves over 40 per cent of all Australian farms and produces approximately one-third of Australia’s food supply. Imagine the most recent drought many times worse. The financial and personal hardships faced by farmers and their families will be exacerbated, coupled with soaring food prices and increasing constraints on economic growth. This is the situation we face if we fail to act now.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change also warned in 2007 that, unless urgent action were taken, the world would have a less than 10 per cent chance of avoiding a two-degree increase in global temperatures within the next 10 years. Moreover, rising temperatures may lead to the further melting of Antarctic ice sheets, causing sea levels to rise. The consequences of this would be disastrous. The immediate effects would be the flooding of ports, the collapse of trade and the severing of communications such as road and rail links on the New South Wales coast and even at Sydney Airport. There would also be hundreds of millions of refugees looking for new homes as low-lying areas are flooded around the world. Put simply, the potential effects of climate change are devastating and warrant urgent action. Unfortunately, for almost 12 years the former Howard government neglected the challenge posed by climate change. The delay and inaction that characterised the Howard government’s response means that the need to act now is far more important and urgent. We can no longer afford to do nothing—the risks of inaction are too great.

As I said at the beginning of my speech, action on climate change requires a multifaceted response. Good public policy addresses long-term issues whilst recognising the needs of the present. The emission reduction targets of between five and 25 per cent on 2000 levels by 2020 included in the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme reveal that the Rudd government has addressed this dual challenge. Our commitment to reduce our carbon pollution demonstrates that we are ready and willing to tackle the long-term threat of climate change. I particularly welcomed the announcement last month by the Prime Minister and the Minister for Climate Change and Water that the government would increase its emissions reduction target range from five per cent to 15 per cent to five per cent to 25 per cent below 2000 levels by 2020. Many constituents in my electorate of Lowe expressed concerns that the 15 per cent target was an insufficient response to the environmental challenges we face. The minister has responded to these concerns and I applaud her decision to increase the target.

It is simply incorrect to argue, as some opposition members have, that environmental policies are bad for our economy. On the contrary, environmental policies, such as the government’s emissions trading scheme, carry a major economic benefit. The current slowdown in economic output both globally and domestically provides Australia with the perfect opportunity to develop a green economy. We need to combine our response to the current economic crisis with policies that enhance our ecological sustainability. We cannot rely on high-polluting and environmentally destructive industries to take Australia out of the economic downturn. To do so would simply mean that the current economic crisis is followed by an environmental crisis.

In 2008 the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Australian Conservation Foundation issued a report illustrating the potential growth of green-collar jobs. The report identifies six key markets—namely, renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable water systems, biomaterials, green buildings and waste and recycling—and states:

With the right policy settings, six market sectors currently valued at $US15.5 billion and employing 112,000 people could grow by 2030 to a value of $243 billion and 847,000 jobs.

The report emphasises that this can only be achieved ‘with the right policy settings’. The Rudd government has committed over $13.5 billion to programs that will invest in low-pollution jobs and increase demand for low-pollution goods and services. For example, the $1.3 billon Green Car Innovation Fund will support the development and manufacturing of low-emission and fuel efficient cars in Australia. The most recent budget invested $4.5 billion in the Clean Energy Initiative. This includes $2 billion over nine years for carbon capture and storage demonstration projects and $1.5 billion over six years for up to four large-scale solar electricity generation projects. This initiative is supported by the Renewable Energy Fund and the Energy Innovation Fund. Australia’s innovative capacity has always been one of our greatest assets and we must deploy this asset in the fight against climate change.

These funds will support Australian businesses to restructure their production processes to become more energy-efficient and to reduce their carbon emissions. These initiatives, which promote the development of low-carbon technology, complement the government’s emissions trading scheme. Earlier this year, the government allocated $3.9 billion to the Energy Efficient Homes program to install ceiling insulation in up to 2.9 million homes and solar water systems in over 300,000 homes—

Debate interrupted.

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