Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

As many in this place are aware, I've long advocated for legislative reform that adequately accommodates our international and moral obligations to address climate change. In the last parliament I was pleased to second the private members' bill by the member for Warringah. But like many attempts to constructively address climate change, that bill was not debated. To the dismay of Australians, successive governments have consistently failed to act. Put simply, we've been living in a political wasteland with respect to climate change. The entire time that I've had the privilege of being the member for Mayo has been incredibly frustrating—and I would also say heartbreaking when we lost a very good Prime Minister four years ago as a casualty of the climate wars.

We've known for several years of the need to act decisively to make sure Australia is in the best position to transition and embrace the plethora of opportunities that a green future presents. We need to set-up ambitious targets to drive investment and take-up clean technologies. The Australian community want us to act. I know that from personal experience, from the countless emails I receive and from the community events I have hosted in my electorate. The business community of Australia also wants and needs long-awaited certainty. They want a framework that enables them to plan and invest for the future.

This bill is not perfect but it is a responsible step in the right direction. This bill limits emissions reductions to 43 per cent by 2030. Such a target is less than the 50 per cent that I and many others in this place were seeking. We were seeking a little more ambition. But despite these limitations, the bill provides Australia with the real first opportunity to meet its international obligations and contribute to the global effort of currently tackling climate change. It restores our reputation among our neighbours and those across the globe. Importantly, this bill provides us with the comfort that finally, after years of political indecision and argument, we will now have legislative targets and mechanisms to enable Australia to meet its moral and international obligations.

At the last election the people of Australia made a very loud and clear statement: they want their lawmakers to act and they want them to act without delay. There's a reason for this. Everyday Australians are experiencing the impact of climate change. Everyone can remember the horrific summer bushfires of the 2019-20 summer. My community experienced this firsthand—the devastation of intense and fast-moving fires across the Adelaide Hills and Kangaroo Island. The fires on Kangaroo Island were the largest in the island's recorded history and burnt more vegetation than any other fire on the island.

After starting on 20 December 2019, the fires were finally declared under control over a month later on 21 January 2022. The carnage from this event was significant. Two people lost their lives; 56 homes were destroyed; hundreds of other buildings, including a large ecotourism facility, were damaged; 23 firefighters were injured; and two CFS fire trucks were damaged. The fires burnt over 211,000 hectares, almost half of the island, and through one of South Australia's most important ecological sites, the Flinders Chase National Park. The park is home to the endangered Kangaroo Island dunnart and the glossy black-cockatoo. The fires killed an estimated 25,000 koalas and destroyed the habitat of numerous other animals.

In the Adelaide Hills, also on 20 December, we experienced a major fire at Cudlee Creek. The fire spread rapidly threatening the townships of Mount Pleasant, Springton, Palmer, Mount Torrens, Harrogate, Inglewood, Gumeracha, Lobethal and Woodside. The fire went on to burn 23,000 hectares and resulted in the death of an elderly man, and the destruction of 84 homes and more than 400 outbuildings and 292 vehicles.

In the lead-up to these fires South Australia had experienced dangerous fire weather conditions with strong winds, low humidity and higher temperatures for several days. Nearly the entire state recorded its highest ever accumulated Forrest Fire Danger Index for December. On 20 December the conditions were horrendous. The state had already sweltered through four days of extreme heat—49.9 degrees Celsius in the west of our state and 43.9 degrees in Adelaide. More than 200 bushfires started that day and required more than 1,500 firefighters to respond. Thirty-one firefighters and two police officers were injured.

We were not alone in this. New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria all experienced significant fires, such that the Insurance Council of Australia declared the fires a catastrophe, enabling related insurance claims to be processed more quickly. The national value of the catastrophe was $2.32 billion with over 38,000 claimants. Experts advise that climate change is increasing and the frequency and intensity of bushfires will continue to increase, so we can expect that what we experienced in South Australia and around the country in 2019 and 2020 will continue unless we collectively act and all recognise that this is an urgent issue.

Our country is lurching from one natural disaster to another, often with barely enough recovery time between disasters. Unnatural oscillations between fire and flood are now in overdrive. Floods on the east coast this year resulted in tens of thousands of residents evacuated from their homes and 22 lives lost. Brisbane had its largest three- and seven-day total rainfall recordings. Mount Glorious received in excess of 1,170 millimetres of rain in a week. Thirty locations across the south-east recorded more than 1,000 millimetres of rain.

As of July 2022 the Insurance Council of Australia reported claims in excess of $5 billion, comprising more than 230,000 claims. On 29 October 2021 severe storms swept through South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania causing $839 million in damage and more than 100,000 claims. In the last three years alone the cost of damage caused by fires, floods and storms has exceeded $8 billion. We often hear the argument that we cannot afford a reduction in emissions, but I would say that we cannot afford to go through that again. We need to transition to renewable energy. We need to transition to electric vehicles. There is such opportunity here. It is the opportunity costs from the failure to act for so long.

It has been reckless for this parliament to do nothing and it is incumbent on every single one of us to do so much more and to be ambitious for our community. While sitting here today and now I look up at the gallery and see young people watching us and the decisions we make. They expect us to be considering their future. The decisions we make today will have an impact on their future long after we are no longer in this place. I urge everyone in this parliament to support these bills. They are not perfect, but let us not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

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