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

Mr Speaker, I find it remarkable that in this day and age they can still be disputing the basic science as to why we must act on climate change. What has happened to the authority of the Leader of the Opposition that, in a debate like this, there is simply open slather to those behind him to interject that it is all nonsense, that climate change is not a problem and that there should be no policy response. Most poignantly, Professor Richardson concludes her report by saying:

The major ingredient missing is political will.

Have we seen that in spades in terms of the participation by those opposite in this debate this morning? The business community in Australia is calling for action. The BCA said last week:

The Liberal and National parties have never been totally clear with us about what their position was, and it’s still not clear to us …

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