Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This week the Climate Commission released a report telling us of the urgent need to act on climate change. The commission says we have 10 years in which to start lowering carbon pollution if we are to avoid dangerous levels of global warming. It is a sobering warning. This report, The critical decade, has particular relevance to Geelong. As I have said before, Geelong's coastal location and industrial economy places us at the front line of the climate change debate in this country. If the national conversation on climate change has been robust, in Geelong the discussion at a local level has been no less heartfelt.

The Climate Commission confirmed the importance of the issue in our community when it made Geelong the first port of call during its series of roving visits around the country two months ago. I understand the concerns that people have about climate change and the desire they feel to do something about it. That is why discussing this issue at a community level is so important. Geelong is fortunate to be home to major industry. Major companies have provided generations with employment, identity and tradition—companies like Ford, Alcoa, Shell and Blue Circle cement. These industries provide jobs for Geelong families and, at the same time, they are also carbon intensive industries. They are, if you like, at the pointy end of this debate. Geelong is also home to many smaller manufacturing firms who also sustain the livelihoods of many Geelong families.

In my view, the actions of the rest of the world in moving to less carbon intensive economies demand of us that we start to move as well. A failure to do so will see our industry left behind and the consequences of that for an industrial town like Geelong are too devastating to imagine. We must start this transition now. But there will be opportunities in the transition to a low-carbon economy as well. That is what we, as a community, need to talk about. On 17 June in Geelong, I will be convening a climate change roundtable. I am gathering local manufacturers, businesses and unions at this roundtable to look at the future for Geelong in a low-carbon economy. They will all play a vital and pivotal role in this transition: what changes are needed, what opportunities will arise, how can we face these challenges in a way that protects our jobs now and our community in the future. There will be new technologies and new jobs and new ways of doing business, so we need to be ready.

This will be a great opportunity for major stakeholders to have their say and to seek a better understanding of the issues being tackled by the federal government. It is part of a much larger and ongoing discussion we need to have in Geelong about one of the very biggest issues that we face as a community.