House debates
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Australian Climate Change Regulatory Authority Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Charges — Customs) Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Charges — Excise) Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Charges — General) Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS Fuel Credits) Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS Fuel Credits) (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Excise Tariff Amendment (Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme) Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Customs Tariff Amendment (Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme) Bill 2009 [No. 2]; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Amendment (Household Assistance) Bill 2009 [No. 2]
Second Reading
9:47 am
Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source
I would like to quote the member for Wentworth back to him. He said, ‘I accept the call to action,’ but he is going to do so by not acting. Never have I seen such a gap between words and actions. He needs to understand that if you care about something you need to do something—caring is doing. Caring without action is the same as indifference. You may as well be the member for O’Connor when it comes to climate change if you are not going to actually do anything.
On this side of the House I am proud to voice my strong support for theCarbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2009 [No. 2] and the related bills before the House. I wish to address my comments not only to those opposite but to their great-grandchildren and to their great-grandchildren’s children. I wish to speak to the descendants of the Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Turnbull, the descendants of the Leader of the Nationals, the member for Wide Bay, Warren Truss, and the descendants of all of those opposite. When we face an issue as significant as the changing climate of our planet we cannot judge the actions of this parliament by tomorrow’s headlines or even by the decisions of voters at the ballot box in the years ahead.
One hundred years from now we will be long gone but our descendants and those who follow us will face the consequences of our actions—or, more importantly, when you look at those opposite, their inaction. As those descendants read this speech in 2109, I hope they can be proud of the vision and the courage shown by this parliament. I hope they can be proud that as a parliament we put egos and political divisions, expediency and ambitions aside to come together as one on this issue of climate change. I hope they can be proud that we moved to put in place a mechanism to lower our carbon emissions and to help save the planet. This parliament has a responsibility to our children and to our environment to do something about climate change.
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