Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. I am asked about support for an action plan to deal with dangerous climate change. The fact is that in a country which has a great scientific tradition, producing leaders across a range of disciplines, scientists have the opportunity to provide input to the important public debates that we have about policy. One of the most important of those debates is the debate around the best way to tackle dangerous climate change. Despite what the opposition would have us believe, the facts around climate change are clear—global warming is a reality; it is being caused by greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide; and the consequences of not acting are severe.

I want to highlight an open letter from some 46 members of Australia's scientific community outlining the case for urgent action and condemning those who wish to muddy the waters by relying on unsupported and unscientific views of climate change sceptics. That letter is titled 'Climate change is real'. The signatories to the letter, some of our leading scientists representing a range of scientific fields in Australia's leading universities, are together calling for an end—

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