Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I wish to table a petition that has been certified by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Petitions. It was sent to this place through me by Janet Cavanagh, Secretary of the Clarence Branch of Climate Change Australia. The petition contains approximately 2,500 signatures from people from the Page and Cowper electorates—in fact, from places all over Australia. The nature of the petition is as follows:

Recognition that human individual global warming is a serious problem confronting Australia’s future and that the current policies and actions of the Australian government are inadequate to address this global challenge.

I note here that the petition began in 2005 and was finalised on 30 April 2006, so it refers to the previous government. I further note that the principal petitioner made it clear in her letter to me that the previous local federal representatives in the seats of both Page and Cowper were not interested in climate change. That goes to the heart of the position of the then coalition government. I also note that the opposition are at it again—from not believing in climate change to maybe embracing it, to now cranking up a fear campaign by talking about trying to delay the introduction of the emissions trading scheme. That is a scheme that the Rudd Labor government is committed to introducing by 2010, a date known and accepted by local communities right across Australia. I have to ask: are the opposition committed to an emissions trading scheme or not? I note that the Minister for Climate Change and Water, Penny Wong, has said that the opposition do not know whether they are Arthur or Martha when it comes to climate change. Indeed this seems to be the hallmark of their tenure: flip and flop; one day inflation is fantasy and the next day it is a problem, and so on.

The petition includes a call for large support for renewable energy research and development and to increase the mandatory renewable energy target for electricity retailers to 50,000 gigawatts a year by 2010, or 10 per cent, and 100,000 gigawatts a year by 2020, or 20 per cent. It further says that the then current mandatory renewable energy target—and this is from a few years back—of 9,500 per year, or two per cent, would be likely to be met by December 2006, and it asked: then what? It was clear to us that a target of 20 per cent was the way to approach the issue of climate change. That was the Rudd Labor government’s commitment in opposition in the lead-up to the election. As a government we are now making that a reality and rolling it out—another election commitment being delivered—and we are working with the states and territories to make sure that the whole country is on board.

One of the key initiatives around the whole debate of climate change is the Kyoto protocol. The Rudd Labor government went to the election the commitment to ratify that, and we did that on 12 December 2007. That, along with a domestic reduction target of 60 per cent by 2050 and the establishment of the emissions trading scheme by 2010, is a clear election commitment that is being met. I note that the protocol has been sent to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties to be further discussed. Some key climate change initiatives were rolled out in the budget, including investing in new technology—a package of $1.9 billion—Climate Ready, helping households adapt and international leadership.

One other thing I would like to say about climate change is that, last Friday, when I was in Kyogle, marching with all the school kids and the Kyogle local reconciliation group in the lead-up to NAIDOC week, some of the young people from the climate change group at Kyogle High School said that this was critical for our nation, for government and for young people. They proudly presented me with a DVD and gave me other DVDs to present to the Prime Minister, the Minister for Climate Change and Water and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts.

The petition read as follows—

We, the undersigned, recognise that human-induced global warming is a serious problem confronting Australia’s future and that the current policies and actions of the Australian Government are inadequate to address this global challenge.

The current Mandatory Renewable Energy Target of 9500GWh per year (2%) is likely to be met by December 2006. Once this target is met, investment in the Australian renewable energy industry will cease, as new generators will not be guaranteed access to Australia’s expanding energy market.

At the same time, the Government is investing large sums into unproven ‘clean coal’ technologies.

Your petitioners request the House to call on the Government to:

• Provide a large increase in support for renewable energy research and development; and
• Increase the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target for electricity retailers to 50,000GWh/yr (10%) by 2010 and 100,000GWh/yr (20%) by 2020.

from 2,462 citizens.