Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to be speaking on this MPI today, because I cannot even begin to count the number of times I have said, 'I don't want to be part of the first generation in history that leaves our planet and environment in a worse state for our children than when we found it.' But sadly, this government is determined to make sure that I am part of the first generation to leave our next generation worse off.

The Prime Minister and his so-called Minister for the Environment—they got rid of the science minister, they probably should have just done away with the Minister for the Environment too, because it is an absolute oxymoron—have sold out our future in a grubby deal that will fill the coffers of large multinational corporations and our biggest polluters, and will do nothing—absolutely nothing—to reduce carbon emissions. Direct Action is a stupid and reckless policy that will not make a significant impact towards addressing climate change, whilst simultaneously wasting billions of dollars in taxpayers money. Just planting some more trees is not going to save the environment from the actions of climate change. The Hawke and Keating governments succeeded in planting more than seven million trees between 1989 and 1996, but climate change is still happening. It is still real, and it is still getting worse. I know many on the other side do not want to believe that—I have listened to some interesting comments from some members opposite over this—but it is true. The science is in. One particular member lambasted the Bureau of Meteorology for not going back in data. For goodness sake! If you want to win a Nobel Peace Prize or a Nobel Prize for science, demonstrate climate change is not happening. That is my test to you out there: demonstrate it is not happening. You will get the prize straight away.

If the Palmer United Party truly thinks that they can somehow say, with a straight face, that they have saved an emissions trading scheme, then any credibility they may have had—which I think is stretching it—I am afraid, is completely gone.

What we have is a government that has done a grubby deal with the Palmer United Party to waste taxpayers money by giving it directly to big polluters—multinational corporations—paying them to try to do something they should be doing anyway, that they should be doing as part of ethical business standards as their corporate duty. And then they are wasting more money by asking the Climate Change Authority to conduct a scientific review of an effective emission reduction program, which the Abbott government will completely ignore. A great waste of money.

It is of no consolation whatsoever that this will not be the first or even the last time that this government will choose to ignore scientific advice. Malcolm Turnbull accurately described this as, 'A recipe for fiscal recklessness on a grand scale.' And, perhaps even more importantly, it is showing the Prime Minister up as the hypocrite he truly is. Last year the Prime Minister said 'picking winners' is bad for the economy, and he has consistently lambasted industry assistance as 'corporate welfare'. But Direct Action is all about picking winners and corporate welfare. While we watch our car industry go under because we cannot have corporate welfare, we can have it in Direct Action. It is hypocrisy writ large. The winners are the huge multinational corporations who will now receive taxpayers money to undertake pollution reduction measures that are already part and parcel of their corporate responsibility. The taxpayer and the environment are left behind as the biggest losers out of this awful deal as the government rolls out a massive corporate welfare package to big polluters. Former Treasury secretary Ken Henry has confirmed the Prime Minister's dirty deal would almost double the amount he has budgeted for. Ross Garnaut said that the minimum budget impact of Direct Action would be $4 billion to $5 billion per year. And again, the Minister for the Environment wants the Direct Action corporate welfare package to last for the next three decades.

The winners have been chosen, but who are the losers? We are all the losers. We all come last in the Prime Minister's pick for Team Australia. It is the mums and dads and families who are going to be paying, and the next generation into the future, because no action will be taken. We will not be reducing our emissions as we had been doing under the ETS. Every credible scientist and economist out there says that an ETS represents the most cost-effective option to reduce global warming. It is a plain fact that a corporate welfare system cannot achieve the kinds of emission reductions that are required to tackle climate change. Direct Action, as said ClimateWorks Australia, a reputable organisation, sets a price on carbon and continuation of previous government policy would not contribute anything to the reductions we need. (Time expired)

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