Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

This is a historic day for our country. I'm honoured to have an opportunity to speak on this bill, the Climate Change Bill 2022, which resets the tone of our national approach to climate change. I was elected by the community of Kooyong to work for urgent and effective action on climate change. I thank the Minister for Climate Change and Energy for recognising the urgency of this matter and for bringing this legislation to parliament so early in this term. I also thank the minister for the opportunity afforded the crossbench in recent weeks to work constructively and collaboratively on this bill with this government, although I note that the government's haste has necessarily curtailed the ability of non-government members to improve some aspects of this legislation. We on the crossbench have worked hard, and we've secured some improvements to this bill. We will continue to work hard, such that this is just the first of many bills to mitigate global warming and transition to clean energy that will be passed by this parliament.

The former federal government spent close to a decade faffing around, arguing amongst themselves, bringing lumps of coal into this chamber and pretending that the earth wasn't getting hotter. Precious time was wasted. We can no longer beat around the bush here. We are in a climate emergency. I stand here today, one of many people sounding the alarm. Federal legislation is fundamental to establishing clear direction towards net zero by 2050 and better ways of measuring our progress, and to locking in the gains that we make towards that goal. The ideal legislation should also set interim goals to ensure that we act now—goals which should be transparent, responsive and progressive.

This bill is limited in detail on its targets, on how they are to be achieved and on the consequences to this government should those targets not be achieved, because, of course, there will be grave consequences should the targets not be achieved. One does not need to be a political scientist to see that the increasing severity and frequency of fires and extreme weather events is affecting all in this country. We have seen the collapse of entire ecosystems and the risk to our food, our water and our air. These have not been consequential enough for the major parties in recent years but are affecting all of us every day.

Over time, we must act to increase the ambition and scope of the targets in this bill. We must not deny, dissemble, delay, procrastinate or pretend. Every tonne of emissions produced now, pumped into our shared and collective atmosphere, makes the job harder for us and for the next generation. Every tonne of carbon dioxide we produce now will stay with us. Every tonne of methane we produce now will stay with us. We all share the earth's atmosphere and we have to humble ourselves to the fact that all of us need clean air. We must secure a more ambitious emissions reduction target to meet our international obligations, to signal this country's commitment to a global effort to act on climate change. That will enable all of us to hold our heads high on the world stage.

The people of Kooyong made history in May. For the first time since Federation they sent a representative to parliament to fight for climate action on their behalf. Many have contacted me about this bill and its 2030 target of 43 per cent, asking, 'Is it enough?' It's not.

We know the science. We know that in order to keep the rise in atmospheric temperature to just 1.5 degrees we have to reduce our carbon emissions by at least 60 per cent, ideally by more than 75 per cent. We know that that means that Australia cannot open new coalmines or gas projects. We know that a more ambitious target will free our economy from its reliance on 20th century energy sources and from the instability of increasingly volatile international markets and precarious international security. We know that our federal government, even now, is out of step with our international partners in the Group of Seven nations, who have committed to halving emissions by 2030, major corporate bodies, such as the Australian Industry Group and the Business Council of Australia, as well as the various state governments, who have been well ahead of the government in the targets that they have set. Most importantly, we do know how to achieve a more ambitious emissions reduction target. We must transition our energy supply to renewables, build a cleaner, more efficient electricity network, increase availability and decrease the cost of low-emissions vehicles, support domestic manufacturing of heavy vehicles and community transport, invest in new technologies and battery manufacturing, and improve the efficiency of both existing and new Australian homes.

With respect, I disagree with the Prime Minister's contention that opening new gas and coal mines would not add to the world's use of fossil fuels. This is an antiquated theory from the last century, before the historic Paris Agreement, and no longer holds water. Opening new coal and gas mines in Australia will add to the world's use of fossil fuels, and it will kneecap our ability to mitigate climate catastrophe.

It's inevitable that any additional supply of gas and coal will delay the world's transition to renewables. We've seen extraordinary progress in our transition to renewable energy in recent years. We can continue to build on that without taking backward steps, without building assets destined to be stranded as our international trading partners make their own progress towards net zero emissions. Australia's actions count globally.

So is this bill enough? Today I will focus on the urgency of our need to act. Pragmatically I will say: today it's enough; I will support this bill. But tomorrow, without pause, our work will continue. I urge the government to remain open to working with other members of this parliament to build collaboratively on this foundation, to work with us to exceed expectations and to surpass this target. Working together, we can be a parliament that actually listens to the voices of its voters. We can be a parliament that exceeds expectations.

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