Kerry Rea (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to take this opportunity in the House this evening to urge those members of the Senate who are not government senate members to appreciate the urgency with which we have to make a decision on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.

It is very clear that the Australian community has a high expectation of this parliament. They expect us to show leadership on this critical issue and indeed they expect us to take decisions as leaders that will protect the future of this country and indeed protect the sustainable future of the planet. Unfortunately, however, there seems to be delaying tactics occurring because of the divisions within the opposition and because of the inability of the opposition leader to lead his party to make some critical decisions. We see once again continuous delaying tactics, which postpone and put off this very important decision.

The reason there is a sense of urgency within the Australian community is that people understand the science on this particular issue. In my own electorate of Bonner, a coastal electorate covering the eastern and south-eastern suburbs of Brisbane, bordered by the beautiful Moreton Bay, people are aware of the impact that rising sea levels will have not just on the coastal areas of south-east Queensland but indeed on the residential areas and canal estates further to the south of my electorate of Bonner and the very significant waterways and creek catchments that run through the whole electorate of Bonner.

This is a significant environmental issue but it is also a significant economic issue and that is why we also need to make a decision and get on with the job of reducing pollution and reducing our emissions. Business within this country understands that this is now not just an environmental issue but an economic issue. It is an issue of all round sustainability. Business is ready to meet the challenge. Once they understand the very detail and nature of what they have to do to start reducing their emissions, they will be ready to put that plan into action. What is delaying this is the indecision of this parliament in giving them a way forward.

What I am most concerned about, though, is not just that this is an urgent issue because of the impacts on our environment and the impacts on our economy; it is also urgent because we need to rise to the challenge and grasp the opportunities that these changes will offer. It is, without a doubt, the most important decision that will affect not just the shape of our economy but the shape of the jobs to come—the jobs that our children and grandchildren will be able to pick up, and plan and study for. It is clear that, if we start to move into a low-emission economy, the technological changes that will occur will give rise to many career opportunities that we cannot even foresee. We need to plan for that.

As I have said in this House before, we saw back in the sixties, seventies and into the eighties the absolute fear of the introduction of computers—that this whole new technology would change the way that we would work, that we would lose jobs, that we would see people being de-skilled and people out of jobs. What in fact has occurred is a whole range of new businesses, new industries and new technologies that have given rise to an increase in employment in the computer industry and, indeed, the creation of much wealth in this country and across the globe.

Lastly, this issue is not just about jobs, jobs, jobs and the future careers of many of our children and many young people across the globe; it is also about the importance of going to Copenhagen with a negotiating position. The opposition needs to understand that the first rule of negotiation is that, when you walk into that room to sit down and talk, you have got to have something to put on the table. You have actually got to have a position around which you are negotiating. Walking into any good-faith bargaining with a blank piece of paper is not going to achieve the outcomes that we need. I urge the Senate to stop the delaying tactics. I urge the opposition leader to pull his troops into line and appreciate that there are jobs and business opportunities—(Time expired)