Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

There are 800 of them. If those opposite agree to an extension of time, I would be prepared to read out the whole list of 800 names. But let's continue.

Let's not just take the word of hundreds of scientists that there is no climate emergency. Let's look at the evidence and let's look at the facts. Where do we start? I suggest we start with the Insurance Information Institute. Let's see how 2019 stacked up. If there is a climate emergency, things should be getting worse in 2019. In 2019, the number of events classified as natural catastrophes was down 3.5 per cent on 2018. The overall losses worldwide from natural catastrophes was also down 19.3 per cent.

Despite the deceptive claims from the insurance industry, who are trying to soften people up for premium increases, 2019 was actually a great year for the insurance industry. Their own data shows that insurance losses from natural catastrophes was down 39.5 per cent, $34 billion less in 2019 than in 2018.

Mr Burns interjecting—

I will take the interjection. Some may say that is only 2019 against 2018. It's only one year. Let's look at the long-term data and see what that says. There is a peer-reviewed, published paper on global climate related losses. I quote exactly from the peer-reviewed science.

Mr Burns interjecting—

We hear the interjections. They don't want to know what the peer review says. It says, 'since 1990 both overall and weather/climate losses have decreased as proportion of global GDP'. Here is this nice, cute little graph which shows the decline in the loss.

An honourable member interjecting—

I'm happy to table it later. We'll see whether they want to know or live in ignorance. It will be very interesting.

Let's go on. We also look at the figures from the International Disasters Database. It shows that, this century, the number of weather-related losses has been declining. Most importantly, they show that today we are 98 per cent safer from extreme weather events than our grandparents or our great-grandparents were. So while you are wandering around saying 'climate emergency, climate emergency', the numbers show that we are 98 per cent safer today than we were back in the twenties and thirties. So while we have people brainwashed and gluing themselves to the roads, claiming a climate emergency, just remember: on extreme weather, children today are living in the safest time in human history.

What about the sea-level-rise emergency? I go back to the 24 September 1988 issue of The Canberra Times:

Male, Maldives: A gradual rise in average sea level is threatening to completely cover this Indian Ocean nation … within the next 30 years …

according to United Nations authorities. So the Maldives should have been underwater by 2018. With the aid of modern technology, I have here a live cam. This is Kuredu Island Resort—

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