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

I too am very pleased to be speaking on this MP1, because the government's failure to act on climate change is, indeed, a major concern right across the country. It is an area that is very often raised with me by my constituents in Richmond. As I have said many times before in this House, we have Liberal and National party members who, at every level, whether it is federal or state, are just absolute and complete environmental vandals—that is the fact. That environmental vandalism can best be seen in their inaction on climate change. We know that their inaction on climate change is a great concern. Thousands and thousands of people in this country and throughout the world will be marching in the People's Climate March this weekend. They are sending very clear messages as we approach the talks in Paris. Here in Australia, these gatherings and marches will be sending a very, very strong message to the Turnbull Liberal-Nationals government, and that message is that we want action on climate change. Our community does demand that.

What do we get from this government? We just get a whole lot of spin. They can try and spin it any way they like but the fact remains that Australia's emissions are going up, and the government have failed to do anything about it. As the shadow minister has previously said, all the government have done is be tricky with their numbers. The government falsely claim that Australia is on track to beat our emissions reduction target of five per cent by 2020. What they are not telling us is that they are in fact only being dodgy with the numbers. The government will be able to count 'carry over' from the period before 2012. So they are just being tricky with numbers—that is all—in the absence of any actual policy.

The fact is that the government under both the previous Prime Minister and the current Prime Minister has targets for 2030 that put Australia right at the back of the pack. This would mean Australia would still be the heaviest polluter and the biggest polluter per head of population by a very significant margin. In contrast, under Labor's period of government, carbon pollution levels dropped by eight per cent. Between now and 2020, carbon pollution levels will increase by six per cent, such that pollution levels will be four per cent above 2000 levels in 2020. This is exactly what the experts predicted would happen under the direct action policy, because the government have no action when it comes to carbon pollution levels, other than paying big polluters—that is about all they have. So the government can try and spin it anyway they like, but the fact remains that Australia's emissions are going up and they fail to do anything about it.

Even though we do have a new Prime Minister, nothing has really changed at all with their approach to climate change. So, changing the leader has changed nothing about their inaction. We also know, as we have mentioned before, that this new Prime Minister did a couple of dirty deals with National Party to become Prime Minister—pretty desperate deals, I would say. Fancy making a deals with them! The National Party are in fact the greatest environmental vandals we have ever seen. Handing the Nationals the water portfolio and refusing to take real action on climate change are some of those desperate dirty deals that the Prime Minister did to in fact get his job. So we now have a situation where the Nationals are going to be dictating policy on climate change and environmental policy. What a joke!

We know the Prime Minister promised the extremists in his party and the National Party that he will not make any changes to their policy on climate change. They will remain with their policy of complete inaction.

It is interesting that, in the past, the now Prime Minister once called Direct Action a 'farce' and a 'recipe for fiscal recklessness on a grand scale', but now what does he do? He pledges to support it. That is what he says. So he sold out on action on climate change to become Prime Minister, and what is he doing? Paying big polluters to keep on polluting. We also know that in December 2009 the now Prime Minister said:

The Liberal Party is currently led by people whose conviction on climate change is that it is "crap" and you don't need to do anything about it. Any policy that is announced will simply be a con, an environmental figleaf to cover a determination to do nothing.

And now what does he do? He supports it.

Just as they have no plans to tackle climate change and have indeed failed the people of Australia, they also have no plans for a renewable energy future. We know the Prime Minister will not be making any change in terms of their renewable energy policy. He does not have any policy in relation to it. In contrast, we have a very proud record. When we were in government, we were committed to expanding and investing in renewable energy because we understand how important it is. We understand how important it is as part of the suite of measures to tackle climate change. We had a major investment when it comes to renewable energy, as opposed to those opposite, who do not believe in it. In fact, Labor has a very proud record and tradition of protecting the environment. We have a very proud record of acting on climate change and acting on renewable energy. In contrast, across the chamber we have the Liberal-National Party, who, as I say, at every level—whether it is federal, state or even local government—are absolute and complete environmental vandals. This is best exemplified in their complete inaction when it comes to taking action in relation to climate change. (Time expired)

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