Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of this matter of public importance. Indeed it is true that faster action on climate change is going to provide assistance to households when it comes to cost-of-living pressures both in the short term and, of course, in the long-term. I think it's worth noting that this government has indeed been taking faster action when it comes to climate change, at warp speed compared to the decade that we've come out of. I want to step through a few of the levels on which this has been undertaken.

The first is the big picture, the framework. This government undertook, as one of its first priorities, to set up a global framework so that our society and our economy can undertake the massive transition that they need to over the decades ahead. What did that look like? It looked like legislating a net-zero target by 2050, something the previous government had been unwilling to do. It looked like a 43 per cent target by 2030 in legislation. That was something that this economy needed. That was something that investors needed. So, at the highest level, our government, as an absolute priority, took action that was a decade too late.

This government has also, in doing that, provided certainty for investors. As everybody who knows about this challenge that our economy is facing knows, this is going to take a massive investment over a long period of time. It's going to take massive investment by government, by the private sector in this country and by international investors looking to Australia as an opportunity. I had the opportunity, while on the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics last term, to talk to international investors from right around the globe, including BlackRock and international pension funds. They said to us that they wanted more certainty in Australia's regulatory environment. This is not some parochial or local issue. International investors were pointing the way, and this government, again belatedly, has provided that long-term signal to investors, and investors are now acting on that signal. As the minister indicated, investment is flowing into renewables.

We can also look at something that is already before the parliament, the safeguard mechanism, which is going to deal with something like 28 per cent of emissions and going to deal with over 200 of our largest emitters. As has been discussed already today and was a key focus in question time, this very parliament is going to need to deal with that particular reform. We need to strengthen the safeguard mechanism, and any parties in this chamber or in the other chamber that don't vote for it are going to be holding back this economy and holding back our society from making the transition that it needs to. All of the experts, the scientists, the business leaders, the investors—AIG, BCA, ACCI—all say the safeguard mechanism needs the reforms that this government is putting forward. As speakers on this side have indicated, those who vote against it will be held to account.

The third layer is that we are acting faster because the sooner you start in this massive task that we have to undertake as a country and as a globe, the better. All of the best modelling we can look at such as the Stern report, modelling by Ross Garnaut and all the integrated assessment models that combine economic modelling with the best science and climate modelling say that the longer you leave it, the harder the task becomes, the more painful it becomes for the environment, the more painful it becomes for households, and higher is the cost of the transition. All of the models agree on that. That is why wasting 10 years has been so bad for our economy, so bad for our society, so bad for our environment. Now we are where we are. We have wasted that decade because the previous government had its head in the sand. But we need to take action now and that is exactly what the government is doing.

The final thing I will talk about is that we need to fund appropriate mechanisms, whether it be investing in new technology—the CEFC—whether it be investing in rewiring the nation—so critical to enabling the massive investment in large-scale renewables—this government will be unlocking $20 billion for that massive investment. But it is even things like, at the local community level in regional areas, the $1 billion in the natural Disaster Ready Fund. That is significant. If we look at the Roma community, a massive reduction in insurance premiums is being enjoyed by the community after a levy was built to deal with the heightened risk of natural disasters. This government is putting $2 million a year into that. That will roll out and make a real difference in communities, not only protecting them but also reducing their insurance bills.

As this motion states, acting on climate change faster, which is exactly what this government is doing, is going to help households deal with cost-of-living pressures. We have already undertaken a lot of action, but there are things in front of this parliament right now that people in this chamber need to think about and vote for.

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