Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to start by acknowledging the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people who are traditional custodians of the land on which we stand. I also acknowledge the traditional custodians of Warringah and pay my deep respect to our diverse First Nations communities, the traditional custodians, elders past, present and emerging on whose country we work. The history of Warringah is complex, and there is a need for healing. I express my heartfelt thanks to local communities and am committed to nurturing the world's oldest adapting culture and our first people's connections to land, sea, and sky. To that end I welcome the commitment of the government to enshrine an Indigenous voice in the Constitution and to hold a referendum next year.

It's been far too long coming. It's more than five years since the Uluru Statement from the Heart dialogues concluded and Professor Megan Davis so powerfully read out the statement to the crowd at Uluru and to Australia. The referendum is another step on the long journey towards reconciliation and closing the gap. However, it's a vitally important step and one which will guarantee that Indigenous people have a say over their future through a permanent voice to parliament. It's an issue that I and many of my constituents feel passionately about, and I'm sure that we in Warringah will once again demonstrate our caring and inclusive nature through our engagement with the referendum process. I'd like to acknowledge the Warringah team and our wonderful community who worked tirelessly throughout the last term to ensure that I was returned to this place to represent them once more.

We know that over the next three years there will be challenges. The economy is not in a good place. We face a lot of challenges. But there is hope in a new way of doing business through investment in innovation, research and development, while improving the value we get for public money. I've committed to champion a new circular economy to build on sustainable inclusive growth. We need to build on innovation, research and development, where our best minds are inventing new products and solutions and delivering prosperity to all Australians. I welcome the tabling today of the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation Bill 2022. We can build back better, smarter and more efficient. But we do need budget discipline, and that is something we need to very much focus on.

Warringah will continue to be climate leaders and will advocate for an acceleration of our ambition to meaningfully contribute to acting on and stopping global warming. There's no hope of reining in the cost of living without climate action. Just think: food, fuel, insurance—climate disasters are the major contributors to cost spikes. In the last three years alone, we've had fires and floods with immeasurable emotional and personal costs to communities. We are heading towards $1.2 trillion of debt by 2060, so it is urgent that we act and that we accelerate our ambition. I commend the government for passing the Climate Change Act 2022, but we must make sure that we keep improving and accelerating. It took pressure from the crossbench to strengthen it, to make it dependent on scientific advice and to set a target of keeping warming below 1.5 degrees. These actions show that we can absolutely do better, and we need to stop subsidising fossil fuels. We are in a critical decade. The latest IPCC report is a clear warning that we must do more by 2030 and beyond. We must transform our energy to renewables, clean up transport, modernise industry, regenerate Australia and stop deforestation. We must stop approving new coalmine and gas projects. We simply cannot keep making the problem worse.

Warringah is a beautiful place, and Australia is a unique and biodiverse country. We need to act to protect our local environment. That's why I am so pleased and proud of Our Community, Roadmap to Zero and other important local initiatives. We need to protect our oceans, beaches and coasts by opposing offshore oil and gas exploration and boosting investment in ocean research and development. We need to end seismic testing in our oceans and safeguard our flora, fauna and heritage by working with community groups, trusts and conservation organisations. We need stronger environmental legislation. And we need to stop using so much plastic and stop packaging. We need to develop the infrastructure to make sure we are properly processing it.

We need to make sure our communities are healthy and connected, with responsible and proportionate responses to challenges. We need to improve mental health, treat health—whole-body health, physical and mental—in a total and holistic way and modernise and increase channels to access health care. I note the time, and I seek leave to continue any remarks at a later date.

Leave granted.

Debate adjourned.

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