Jim Turnour (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I am pleased that the member for Leichhardt has developed a fan club in a very short term, but I think he should be heard in silence. And I would indicate to the member for Dunkley that, even though it is 20 minutes into question time, I am ready to rumble.

Jim Turnour (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science and Minister Assisting the Minister for Climate Change. Will the minister outline the potential impacts of climate change on the Australian community and why it is important that we take united action against climate change?

Greg Combet (Charlton, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Minister for Climate Change) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Leichhardt, who is a very close colleague and a very popular member in Leichhardt too. Australia has already experienced warming, with an increase recorded in the number of days which have been hotter than 40 degrees Celsius. November this year has seen a long and intense heatwave across much of southern and eastern Australia. New daily maximum temperature records for November have already been set at Wilcannia, at 45.2 degrees, and Broken Hill, at 43.4 degrees, on 16 November. Last night in Melbourne the temperature was 28.1 degrees Celsius, which was a new record highest temperature for a November night. Today temperatures in much of south-eastern Australia will be very hot, predicted around 45 degrees, with strong winds in some areas. This has resulted, as the Prime Minister has pointed to earlier, in the highest fire danger alerts being issued in some areas of the country.

Whilst of course we are cautious about interpreting specific daily weather events like these, the trend is absolutely clear: our climate is warming. But of course there is continued disunity among the coalition—there are two camps, as I have adverted to on a number of occasions. It should be recognised that a number of Liberal senators, now that the debate on the CPRS has commenced in the Senate, were yesterday supporting the position of the Leader of the Opposition in the good faith negotiations with the government. One of those senators, Senator Boyce, supports an amended CPRS ahead of Copenhagen and said:

I would like to see the package of bills passed and there is no reason why we cannot pass them ahead of … Copenhagen…

A sound observation from Senator Boyce. But of course the rival Liberal camp of sceptics has been well and truly unleashed in the Senate. Senator Minchin, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, only today said:

The Senate overwhelmingly rejected the abomination in August; it should do so again.

This is the Leader of the Opposition, the leader of the Liberal Party, in the Senate, saying the CPRS is an abomination and it should be voted down again. We understand that there were no fewer than 17 senators sitting in close proximity to Senator Minchin giving him plenty of verbal support. We have their names and I am happy to provide them.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Send the boys around!

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The House will come to order

Greg Combet (Charlton, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Minister for Climate Change) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, we are very gentle in dealing with these issues in the union movement!

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When the House comes to order we will continue.

Greg Combet (Charlton, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Minister for Climate Change) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have seen the member for Groom walking around the floor with the black book he mentioned on Four Corners. I am very happy to provide the names of the senators. One thing I can say is that amongst them was Senator Bernardi, known now as Senator Minchin’s foot soldier, who continued his rant against the science saying:

One could describe it as the Sara lee cheesecake effect: layer upon layer upon layer of alarmism and deceit giving rise to the new religion of climate change.

So we have communist conspiracies, we have neo-Nazi science and we have religions of climate change based on deceit—quite bizarre and absurd commentary continues to come. Senator Abetz is still maintaining that weeds—lantana, paterson’s curse, you roll it up—are a greater problem than climate change. That is Senator Abetz. Senator Cash reconfirmed that she does not support action. She put a concise argument under any circumstances. She said:

Under no circumstances should the CPRS be supported—under no circumstances.

It is little wonder that there is profound, obvious division in the coalition. Senator Cash is unmoved by the fact that average rainfall decline of 10 to 20 per cent since the 1960s has caused a 50 per cent decline in dam inflows in south-western Australia. One would expect that she might have some concern about that. Another confirmed sceptic from WA, the member for Tangney—a denier, it is suggested to me—told the AAP today that more than a third of the Liberal Party would probably cross the floor to vote no, even if the government agrees to the coalition’s amendments. With just five days left to vote on the CPRS, all of those opposite should be acting to limit the impact of climate change on Australia, cut out the nonsense, stop the delays and vote for the CPRS.