Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to be speaking on this MPI, as the matter of climate change is an issue of grave concern to people in my electorate of Richmond, and I am proud that Labor's position on climate change is very clear. We accept the science of climate change and believe we need to do something about it.

Over this past weekend we saw globally more than 600,000 people take to the streets demanding action on climate change. We saw thousands of people at these rallies throughout Australia. Despite this, the Prime Minister and the Liberal-National parties will not act. The fact is, they are climate-change deniers, as we heard today. Their record and lack of action on climate change is reflected in their abysmal record on all issues related to the environment.

This is particularly true on the North Coast of NSW where we see the National Party not only denying climate change every chance they get but also destroying our important marine parks, allowing shooting in national parks and expanding harmful coal seam gas mining in our region. Locally there is grave concern about the government's plan to destroy the renewable-energy target. The fact is that the science on climate change is very clear, with over 97 per cent of published climate scientists agreeing that climate change is real and driven by man-made greenhouse gas emissions.

We all have a responsibility to act on this advice. Climate change will not go away by simply pretending it is not happening. It is in Australia's national interest to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and work with international partners to cut global carbon pollution. The Prime Minister refuses to accept the need for urgent and serious climate action, but this is not the view held by the rest of the world's leaders. It is very disappointing that the PM refused to attend this week's UN climate summit, where President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron, along with more than 100 other world leaders, outlined their countries' commitments to serious climate action. We see world leaders make strong commitments, yet our PM insists Australia should not play a role in global climate action.

Some of the actions include China and South Korea moving to emissions-trading schemes—the very system this government set about dismantling here in Australia. Emissions-trading schemes are being adopted in many other countries too, including the UK, France, Germany, Canada and parts of the United States. But this government's policy allows the big polluters open slather. Instead of polluters paying, this government is setting up a slush fund of billions of taxpayer dollars to hand to polluters. Make no mistake about it: this will cost households more, while failing to cut pollution. We need to move towards a clean-energy future and Labor is committed to renewable energy, serious investment in the industry and creating jobs.

The renewable energy target was an important part of the former Labor government's policy approach to clean energy. The renewable-energy target is driving investment in the sector, creating jobs and reducing Australia's carbon pollution. Under Labor, the number of Australian households with solar power increased from 7,400 to over 1.1 million. Jobs in the renewable-energy sector tripled, providing a significant economic boost. In fact, in my electorate we have one of the highest take-up rates of solar panels, and there is a strong commitment and investment in renewable energy. The industry currently attracts around $18 billion of investment and is expected to see another $18 billion through the life of the RET. I strongly support the retention of the RET and have been approached by many businesses, locally, that are very concerned about this government's reckless actions in this area.

We know the Liberal-National government is made up of climate sceptics, and they do not believe in renewable energy. The vandalism that has been done to the renewable-energy industry in Australia by this government is, quite frankly, disgraceful and appalling. They are putting in jeopardy thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of investment. They are nothing more than a pack of climate sceptics, vandalising the renewable-energy industry. When it comes to regional and rural areas, people know that the National Party is to blame for these reckless actions on the RET. Rural communities will hold them to account and punish them for this. Regional areas are very reliant on jobs and economic growth from the renewable sector.

Recently, the report by the Abbott's government's hand-picked Renewable Energy Target review panel was released. The review paves the way for the government to break yet another promise, this time in relation to renewable energy. The panel recommended either scrapping or cutting the RET. The recommendations of the review panel will decimate the renewable-energy sector and associated jobs and investments.

The panel's report is just a political document, not an independent review. The climate-change-denial endemic in the coalition is written throughout this document. This is a report written by climate-change deniers for climate-change deniers, and it shows. If the government implements these retrograde recommendations it will be breaking another promise and killing off billions of dollars of investment in Australia. The government needs to disown the report. I am dubious about this, because we know this government does not accept the science of climate change.

The Prime Minister has previously described climate science as 'absolute crap'. I hear National Party members in my electorate saying the same thing, all the time. This government is out of step with the rest of the world by refusing to accept the need for urgent and serious climate-change action. It is environmentally and economically reckless to not take action on climate change, and this government is condemned for its inaction.

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