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

I'm very pleased to support the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Reform (Closing the Hole in the Ozone Layer) Bill 2022. In 1985, Jonathan Shanklin was a junior researcher at the British Antarctic Survey when he discovered a hole in the invisible shield that protects us from solar radiation. It's 37 years since scientists first found that hole in the ozone layer. That invisible shield absorbs harmful UV rays from the sun. Without it, complex life on earth would not exist. The findings spurred a whole environmental movement in the 1980s and led to the total ban of chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs—the chemicals responsible for destroying ozone. We saw the science and we believed it. We saw that, since the late seventies, there'd been a systematic decline in the amount of spring ozone. By 1984 the ozone layer over the Halley research station was only about two-thirds as thick as it had been in earlier decades.

Shanklin's findings were published in a seminal Nature paper in May 1985, and that research led directly to the 1987 Montreal Protocol—an agreement to freeze production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances at then current rates. To use Jonathan Shanklin's own words:

I think it was the fact that it was absolutely clear cut—you could show politicians a picture of the Antarctic ozone hole, and so they were very quickly enabled to take action.

There were also alternatives to CFCs that were readily available and, because increased UV light was linked to the increased incidence of skin cancer, the word 'cancer' made it a public health issue, so I witnessed political effort being harnessed incredibly rapidly. The Montreal Protocol provided an exemplar of how things should operate. If we could have adopted the same approach with climate change and proceeded just as rapidly, then we wouldn't be in the challenging position that we are now. We would have taken action decades ago. I was a very young journalist when all this was happening in the Canberra Press Gallery and witnessing the Hawke government coming to terms with this news. It was my first big environmental story. We all learned to say 'chlorofluorocarbons' without stumbling on it. I think that's why it has been so interesting to see the difference in the acceptance of the science then compared to now, as it relates to climate change.

We can be very proud that Australia has been at the forefront of action to protect the ozone layer since the start. Due to our increased vulnerability to changes in the ozone layer, it was recognised very early by Prime Minister Bob Hawke. We were one of the first countries to sign the Montreal protocol, and we shared our expertise with other nations. The federal government worked with the states and territories and with industry to pass legislation to phase out the importation, production and supply of ozone-depleting substances. Australia also contributed to the international fund that assisted developing nations to respond to this issue. Since 1987, every single prime minister has continued to support the Montreal protocol, and Australia has met or exceeded all its targets under the agreement. In 2012 the Montreal protocol became the first international environmental treaty to achieve full ratification, being signed by every country who's a member of the United Nations.

So how do these bills fit in with that progress? Through these bills we will contribute to the phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, in our atmosphere. This is absolutely critical to meeting the targets that we've set. HFCs are dangerous greenhouse gases that are 4,000 times as harmful to our environment as carbon dioxide. These bills improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Program and will keep it strong. We know that protecting the ozone layer is paramount to the wellbeing of Australians and the Australian environment. We'll make these changes through regulating the manufacture, import, export, use and disposal of ozone-depleting substances and synthetic greenhouse gases. Under our Labor government, Australia will re-establish our international leadership role on the environment.

I've already noted that the Montreal protocol is one of the most successful environmental treaties that we've ever seen and has demonstrated success in protecting the ozone layer and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Thanks to the efforts of all countries, the ozone layer is projected to recover by the middle of this century. The global phase-down of HFC production under the Montreal protocol is estimated to prevent the equivalent of 420 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere by 2100—which feels like a long way away but isn't, actually. Australia's on track to reach 85 per cent reduction in our consumption by 2036. The Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Program is a terrific example of what Australia can do to protect our climate and meet our ambitious emissions reduction targets.

Our government is very proud to work alongside Australian industry—industry that continues to move to alternative technologies and manage environmentally harmful chemicals to minimise emissions. In the refrigeration and air-conditioning sector, for instance, Australia has a world-leading approach to managing these substances, from import through the supply chain, and how they're actually used within the local economy and then at the end of life. Australia has established a product stewardship scheme to collect used refrigerant. The scheme turns these potent greenhouse gases into harmless salty water. Australian industry is crucial to the way we engage with our Pacific neighbours as well. Our companies have been partnering with the Pacific to assist their phase-out of ozone-depleting chemicals. By working constructively with our neighbours, we can move away from refrigerants that are damaging the region. Changes in this bill lay the foundation for future additional initiatives to reduce synthetic greenhouse gas emissions and assist Australia to meet our 2030 target.

It isn't hard to draw the parallels on what can be achieved now. After so many years of natural disasters being aggravated by climate change, according to the data that we see, it's no wonder that we want to replicate the success that we've had with ozone when we look to the broader issue of climate change and emissions reduction. The Albanese government made a commitment to reduce our emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, and we're delivering on that. We've legislated that. That includes an 82 per cent target for renewable energy. It's a hard thing to achieve, but we're committed to doing that. Our climate change bill has passed through the parliament and, in the same way that we continue to act on ozone and take the next steps, that climate bill is not the end of the story—it's the start.

Among the things we're doing to parallel the work that was done so effectively by the Hawke government in the 1980s, and by subsequent governments in their approach to tackling the hole in the ozone layer, we have a suite of measures around climate change. We've got $20 billion of investment in Australia's electricity grid, to accelerate the decarbonisation of the grid. We've got an additional $300 million to deliver community batteries and solar banks across Australia, and I'm very proud to have two of those in the electorate of Macquarie. Up to $3 billion is being invested in the new National Reconstruction Fund to support renewables manufacturing and low-emissions technology, again, working with industry. Our Powering the Regions Fund will support the development of new clean energy industries and decarbonisation priorities of existing industry. There's a further $100 million to train 10,000 new energy apprentices in the jobs of the future, there's $10 million for new energy skills programs to provide alternative training pathways, and there's the introduction of declining emissions baselines for Australia's major emitters under the existing safeguard mechanism. I think that's a really good example, mirroring what we've done on ozone, of taking existing work and improving on it over time.

We're doubling the existing investment in electric vehicle charging and we're establishing hydrogen refuelling industries. Up to $500 million is committed for that. We've got the application of new standardised and internationally aligned reporting requirements for climate risks, we're restoring the role of the Climate Change Authority while keeping decision-making and accountability with government. We'll be introducing new annual parliamentary reporting by the minister—the first of which will come very shortly. We've also bid to host a future Conference of the Parties in Australia, with an offer to the Pacific partner countries to co-host it—again, a demonstration of working with our neighbours. We know these things work; it's the way to bring about change. We've also confirmed that we will not use overachievement, otherwise known as 'carryover', from 2020 and the Kyoto protocol targets in order to meet our Paris climate targets. This is how we're going to demonstrate to the world that the commitment this country has always shown to taking a leadership role and working to solve environmental issues is being replicated in the work that we're doing to tackle climate change.

I'm very pleased to support this legislation which continues the work started by the Hawke government and continued over many decades.

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