Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The government, in dealing with the global challenges we face on the economy, on climate change and on other matters, has been active in prosecuting an activist agenda. Yesterday, I briefed the House on the implementation of the Building the Education Revolution program, visiting a school in Wanniassa here in Canberra and looking firsthand at what was happening with the building of new classrooms and the extension of the library to benefit an independent Christian school with a school population of about 1,100 or 1,200 young Australians. This is something of which this side of the House is proud. We are engaged with the real challenge which Australian families are facing right now, which is, ‘How do we ensure that we have the best education facilities for our children for the future?’

One of the other challenges for the future, of course, is climate change, and I would draw the attention of honourable members in the House to the Climate change: global risks, challenges and decisions report, which was released last week. This is a significant document. This was the most significant update of climate science since the 2007 UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. This report underscores the urgency for action on climate change and it says:

The newest evidence indicates that society faces serious risks even with a global temperature rise of only about 2 degrees. If society wants to minimize these risks, then action must be taken now.

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