Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kingston for her question. I know she has a strong interest in effective climate change action not only here in Australia but also in our neighbourhood. The fact is that our neighbours in South-East Asia and the Pacific are highly vulnerable to climate change, of course through sea level rise and having many people living in coastal communities, but there are also expected impacts of higher temperatures, ocean acidification, extreme weather, different ocean currents and the like. This is particularly important where many people rely on the ocean for their food security and their livelihood.

I am asked what actions the government is taking to support Australia’s near neighbours. We are taking a range of activities to help: a $20 million Pacific Climate Change Science Program, for example, helping Pacific island countries and East Timor better understand how climate change will impact on them. We have also allocated $25 million to help implement adaptation programs in Pacific island countries, improving coastal zone management and disaster preparedness. As well as that, Australia is a development partner for the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security. I was pleased to attend the second ministerial meeting of the Coral Triangle Initiative in the Solomon Islands last week. The Coral Triangle, an area of global environmental significance bordering Timor Leste, the Philippines, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, has the greatest marine biological diversity on the planet. It includes the Solomons as well. Some call it ‘the Amazon of the oceans’. The Coral Triangle meeting was looking at ways of building the resilience of marine environments so as to better withstand the impacts of climate change. Australia has been pleased to support the efforts of the Coral Triangle Initiative, particularly providing expertise for them to develop and deliver plans of action, especially in terms of coral reef management, which for Australia, given our experience on the Great Barrier Reef, is a great asset.

I am pleased to say that last week again I saw the strong commitment from the six Coral Triangle Initiative nations. They know that the problems that they face are important and they do want to take pronounced action to deal with them. This follows the Coral Triangle declaration, which was signed in Manado in Indonesia in May this year. There we had the presidents of the six Coral Triangle Initiative countries—President Yudhoyono, President Arroyo, Prime Minister Sikua, President Ramos Horta, Prime Minister Somare and Prime Minister Razak—standing side-by-side and agreeing to work together in the interests of their region and in the interests of the planet.

Today the government is delivering the most significant economic reform in a generation and the most significant environmental reform in our history to deal with the impacts of climate change. Like the leaders of the Coral Triangle Initiative, we are acting in the national interest to protect the future for our children. We have done this because we know, as do they, that a healthy and productive environment is absolutely fundamental to our social and economic future. Addressing the impacts of climate change is critical to the long-term sustainability of populations in our region, as it is to Australia’s interests as well. As the leaders of the Coral Triangle Initiative show that leadership, so it is time for the opposition to recognise the national interest that is at stake. We now need to move comprehensively and decisively on dealing with climate change. The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme that is in front of the parliament will assist this nation greatly in doing that and the time for leadership is now.

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