Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I apologise for that, Chair. Around the country, there have been severe effects of climate change. Yes, there is action, and thank God that there is, but we need to reduce our emissions dramatically, and we will do that with a plan outlined by the minister. I am very grateful to him for doing that.

I am sick of the terrible conflict and the terrible way that this whole issue has been approached by the Liberal-National coalition. They haven't learnt their lesson; they should have. They have had a wave of the Australian population vote against them because of their lack of action on climate. Until they recognise that, nothing will change on their side. Luckily, we have a Labor government that will now act on climate change, in cooperation with a whole range of other parties and other people—not before time—and thank God for that.

Come to my electorate in the middle of summer, where temperatures are 47 degrees. I have been to your electorate. I've seen what it's like in a drought, and I know that we have to act on climate change.

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