House debates
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2010; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2010; Australian Climate Change Regulatory Authority Bill 2010; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Charges — Customs) Bill 2010; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Charges — Excise) Bill 2010; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Charges — General) Bill 2010; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS Fuel Credits) Bill 2010; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS Fuel Credits) (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2010; Excise Tariff Amendment (Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme) Bill 2010; Customs Tariff Amendment (Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme) Bill 2010; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Amendment (Household Assistance) Bill 2010
Second Reading
6:35 pm
Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source
It is a disgrace. And we have the hypocrisy of the minister for agriculture talking about climate change and talking about the environment but, when it comes to that practical environmental work and investing in the future of our communities through Landcare, the government going missing.
I know the minister will come out and say we have 56 facilitators. Well, that is 56 facilitators across all of Australia—56 facilitators to work with 100,000 Landcare volunteers. I would suggest to the minister that he should be engaging more with the Landcare movement and supporting them in their efforts, rather than lecturing us about climate change and cutting back on that practical environmental work which has enormous support in my region and right throughout Australia.
In conclusion, Gippslanders are great environmentalists. They are interested in this debate. They are doing the hard work on the ground—the practical, environmental, hard work on the ground—and they are adapting to what is a variable climate. They accept that, and they are acting on the science that has found better ways to make their land more productive. Gippsland families, however, do not support this big new tax, and they will be voting against the legislation.
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