Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities) Share this | Hansard source

I even offered for the shadow minister to go. The work of our scientists down there is extraordinary and the work that they do with ice cores is probably some of the most telling work that exists in dealing with the science of climate change. Effectively, these ice cores are time capsules for the history of our planet. The depth at which they are found tells us how old they are. The quality of the water particles within them tells us about the temperature of the period and the snowflakes, as they have fallen, have trapped tiny little bubbles which give us an exact time capsule record of what the atmosphere was like at the time.

The story is a simple one and found consistently with ice core records across the globe. It is this: that at the same time that the industrial revolution occurred, the level of carbon in the atmosphere massively increased, by proportion to what would have been natural levels and, at the same time, an increase in temperature. The science of climate change is that simple. People say, 'There have been other periods in our history; you can go to geological records and there were other periods when the globe has got warm.' That is true—it is true that there have been other times when the globe has got warm, but we are talking about a spike, unprecedented, that has coincided exactly with an increase in pollution going into the atmosphere.

I also, on this, refer to an argument offered by some sceptics where they say, 'Actually, carbon dioxide is a completely natural gas.' Most forms of pollution occur, in some way or other, naturally. They are called 'pollution' when you get them in massive concentrations beyond what would occur naturally. That is why we refer to 'carbon pollution'. That is why we refer to carbon dioxide being a pollutant when it is occurring at levels that would not ordinarily be natural. What about when you have an oil spill and you have oil going into the ocean? Oil itself occurs naturally, but the spill means that you get an environmental outcome which would otherwise be unprecedented. In the same way, the fact that carbon dioxide occurs naturally does not change for one minute the fact that we are dealing with a form of pollution when we are dealing with it in these sorts of levels.

There have been a number of members of this House who have chosen, on different occasions, in interviews and elsewhere, and quite publicly, some of them, to have a view that is quite contrary to the contents of this resolution. I hope they vote in accordance and consistent with those views when this comes to a vote in a few moments time. I am noticing a few of them currently are absenting themselves from the chamber, and I will see whether they are here—

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