Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is with great pleasure and honour that I speak on the Gillard government's Clean Energy Bill 2011 and related bills, particularly following the member for 'Henny Penny', the member for Paterson, who spent the first few minutes complaining that there was not enough time to speak on these bills and then talked about how the sky is going to fall in, without any real evidence at all. He talks about the Great Barrier Reef. What was your plan for the Great Barrier Reef? Your plan was to cover it in shadecloth. That is the answer, that is how you address climate change—cover it in shadecloth. What an absolute joke you lot are!

Speaking on this legislation is probably one of the proudest moments I have had in this place since I was elected to represent the people of McEwen. I am proud to be part of a government that is taking action on climate change and its dangerous effects on our community, not only in the present but for the future. As the member for Paterson pointed out, for the last four years Labor has talked about taking action on climate change, and we are doing it. The only thing in the way is the Luddites on the opposite side of the House who do not want to do anything. Even the shadow minister, Greg Hunt, when asked about how many trees you had to plant, said, 'Oh, 100 square kilometres.' That was all—100 square kilometres—and he found out he was wrong. He could not even get his maths right on how many trees you need to plant. Now we find out that we have got to cover the entire country in trees and we still will not have it done. The 19th century plan that those sitting opposite want to put forward is absolutely ridiculous.

I am proud to be part of a Labor government because, as history shows, it is Labor governments that deliver reforms that benefit each and every Australian, and the passage of this legislation will be no different in setting up the structures and foundations that we rely on. There is no denying the fact that climate change is real. It is something that we in this country have been debating for years and now we are finally getting on with the job because we have a Prime Minister who understands that just because something is tough does not mean you fold in and do not do it—particularly if it is the right thing to do by the country. That is what leaders are elected to do—it is about leadership, not opposition. As much as those opposite may fail to understand, there are things far more important than their sound bites, slogans and fraudulent scare campaigns. A fact that they might find even more astounding is that there are even more important things than the future of the Leader of the Opposition; take the country's future, for example.

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