Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Amendment Bill 2010 and related bills. I want to thank the member for New England for his contribution and say particularly that it is always good to see him go on the record praising the member for Braddon. I will make sure I pass that on to the member for Braddon, because he would be surprised to hear that occasionally there are slights raised from unnamed sources! I thank him for his contribution.

I want to start by going on the record to make sure that people understand the fundamental premise that I bring to this speech: that climate change is real. The second premise I bring is that acting later will cost far more than acting now. The other premise that I bring to this speech is that I am not any more valuable than a person in future generations. I have exactly the same value and they have the same value as me. Therefore, I need to consider their lives and their future in the things that I or we do now. They are the three premises with which I start this speech.

The Rudd Labor government are committed to real action on climate change. Late last year, we had our efforts to introduce the CPRS torpedoed by the Nationals, by the Greens, by Steve Fielding, by Nick Xenophon and by most Liberals in the Senate. Nevertheless, we will continue to transition our economy to a low-carbon future. If you want to know which party will take action on climate change, you just have to look at the votes on the CPRS in the Senate. The Nationals did not vote for it, the Greens did not vote for it and most Liberals did not vote for it. Only Labor senators and two dissenting Liberal Party senators did. The courageous Senator Boyce from Queensland and Senator Judith Troeth from Victoria voted with their convictions and had the courage to say that they were of the same value as future generations and they were prepared to make a decision. They did that even though it was harmful on the day when Tony Abbott won the coalition leadership on an anti-climate change ticket.

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