Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

If the fires in Greece, the heatwaves in Washington state, the floods in Germany and the breaking apart of icebergs weren't enough, I could understand the fear and the sense of hopelessness that the latest IPCC report has triggered in people. To the grandparents who are worried about the world they're leaving their grandkids, to the new parents or those thinking of being parents who are worried about what this means for the future of their kids, through to the youngest people themselves, who, with the clarity of children, can see what's ahead of them and can't fathom the lack of action to deal with it, I want to say that, yes, it's scary, but it isn't hopeless.

The facts, not open to dispute or opinions or personal views, written by 234 scientists, backed by 14,000 pieces of peer-reviewed research and then approved by 195 countries, including Australia, are breathtaking. They are proof that Australia has already warmed by around 1.4 degrees Celsius and could be just 10 years away from heating by more than 1.5 degrees. This is the level of warming that the world agreed in 2015 we would try to avoid. It is the level Australia agreed to take action to prevent, yet the failure of our actions has seen us ranked last among 200 countries.

The consequence of the current and future warming, described as code red by the United Nations, is dire. The frequency of extreme fire weather days has increased and fire seasons are longer. Now, that's not news in the Blue Mountains or the Hawkesbury. The intensity, frequency and duration of fire weather events are projected to increase, as are heat extremes, heavy rainfall and river floods, all of which have the potential to wreak havoc on the hills and the lowlands that I represent. Marine heatwaves are already happening and increasing. Snow cover and depth are decreasing and are projected to decrease further. There are sandstorms, dust storms and drought. How predictable but how soul destroying it is to hear the spin from the Morrison government on these facts and its boasting about its meagre efforts.

I was struck by the words of a climate scientist from the University of Melbourne, former scientific adviser to the German government's climate negotiators and one of the IPCC report authors, Dr Malte Meinshausen, who said:

I think everybody in the international community would laugh if they would hear that Australia thinks they're doing enough. Of course they're not doing enough …

They neither have upped their targets for 2030 nor have they put a net zero target onto the table. They are not invited to many of the talks where international climate diplomacy is now going on because they are seen—and rightly so—as a laggard.

The IPCC report is another clear sign that the rest of the world is going to move rapidly ahead toward renewable energy, and we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to jump ahead of the pack. Australia's achievements to date, including in solar on rooftops, is thanks to state government priorities. Our renewable energy, made by our workers, and our technology here at home could be exported to a world that we know is hungry with demand. The world's climate emergency is our jobs opportunity. By investing in renewables, we can create thousands of good-paying jobs and growing industries, making power cheaper for homes and businesses. But we have a government divided, even on the basic science of climate change, let alone able to deliver the opportunities that are before us.

Australians deserve better than a government that tries to spin its way through the rest of the world as the rest of the world decarbonises. We have to act now. This needs tangible actions from a government with a track record on acting, and, of course, that means it needs a Labor government. We need things like offshore wind power, hydrogen and green steel. We need to use the lithium and the rare earths that we have, not just for export but to have our own battery-manufacturing powerhouse. We need to train young Australians for the new energy jobs of the future. We need good policy for electric vehicles so that we can give families more affordable choices. We need to get the grid rewired so that the renewable energy can get from where it is to where it needs to be. And we need things like community batteries—we want to see a start of 400 across the country—so that we can really optimise that solar energy we have. I want to say to young people that there is hope. There are two things: there is hope for the future of the world, and it's not too late—but only if we act now. (Time expired)

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