Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Brisbane for raising this matter of public importance because, while the federal government seems unsure, the public is in no doubt that urgent action to address the climate crisis and to protect our environment is undoubtedly a matter of the greatest importance. Indeed, for Australians, it's increasingly clear that we're facing a climate and extinction crisis. In fact, all it takes to experience the climate crisis these days is to walk out the front door, which is to say that many of us now have already lived through climate change induced extreme weather events. For instance, there's been the millennium drought, the Dunalley fires in Tasmania and the Black Summer fires. Moreover, there's been the increasingly intense cyclones, floods and storms. Indeed, some 84 per cent of Australians say they've been directly affected by at least one climate fuelled disaster since 2019.

It's not just us personally facing the effects of climate change. Nature itself is being hammered even harder, with Australia in particular becoming a global hotspot for extinctions as the changing climate inflicts terrible harm both directly and indirectly. Frankly, it should be a source of great shame for the major parties that more mammal species have become extinct in Australia than on any other continent on earth. This harm is being compounded by our weak environmental laws which have allowed some 7.7 million hectares of bush and forest, an area roughly the size of Ireland, to be cleared in the last 25 years or so. To stop this decline and to reverse these trends we need governments to act with urgency. But the reality is that while the federal government has made some steps forward on environmental law reform, sadly they've moved far too slowly and kicked almost all of the hard work out into the long grass.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the appalling continued support and approval of new coal and gas projects, because both major parties are hooked on fossil fuels. It seems that nothing can dampen their enthusiasm for digging up and selling more, no matter what scientific evidence is presented to them. In fact, in 2023 Australia exported 1.15 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. This is more than ever before, making us one of the largest exporters of fossil fuels in the world. In fact, we're currently third behind Russia and the United States, and that, undeniably, is a shameful position to be in. That's not even mentioning our domestic emissions which, excluding the dodgy accounting trick of including land use changes, have barely budged in over a decade which means we still have some of the highest per capita emissions in the world.

What are we doing here? How could governments have let this happen? Well, they know that electoral donations reform was last week's topic. But does anyone genuinely think that government inaction doesn't have something to do with the fact that almost $2 million worth of donations by fossil fuel interests poured into the coffers of the Labor, Liberal and National parties just last year. Of course, it does have something to do with the government's dreadful policy position. Considering that last year was a non-election year, brace yourself for all the dirty money that's set to pour into the polluting parties over the next little while in the run-up to the election. It's best I repeat that stunning fact for the benefit of anyone who didn't quite catch it: last year, in financial year 2022-23, the Liberal, National and Labor parties accepted some $2 million from fossil fuel companies and interests. That's appalling, though hardly surprising because time and time again we've seen this government and its predecessors kowtow to big corporations and powerful vested interests. Well, I say it's way beyond time the government grew a backbone, stood up to the fossil fuel lobby and started making policy in the public interest, because we simply can't have our environment, climate and energy policies dictated by the fossil fuel companies.

Australians are crying out for urgency on the government's long-delayed reforms so Australia can stop bulldozing the bush, better fund environmental management and repair, stop propping up climate-wrecking fossil fuels and instead harness our rich renewable-energy resources to power a green economy. To keep ignoring all of this is for the Labor, Liberal and National parties to keep treating the community and the environment with contempt.

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