Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Schools, Early Childhood and Youth representing the Minister for Science and Innovation. Will the Minister inform the House about the consensus in the scientific community over the threat of dangerous climate change? How has this been received, and what is the government doing to address the issue?

Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Parramatta for her question. The fact is that climate change is real and we know this because our scientific community, particularly climate scientists, have a consensus about it. An open letter from the scientific community in June of this year said:

The overwhelming scientific evidence tells us that human greenhouse gas emissions are resulting in climate changes that cannot be explained by natural causes.

There is a context in which we should understand what our scientists are telling us. The fact is that science underpins the quality of life that we have in Australia. In 2011-12 the Commonwealth will invest an estimated $9.4 billion in science, research and innovation through programs across the Australian government—some 43 per cent higher than the high-water mark, so called, of the Howard government. There are 55,000 researchers working in Australia's univer­sities and tens of thousands of researchers working in CSIRO, the public service and cultural institutions in the not-for-profit sector.

Scientific knowledge starts at school and of course as education minister I do know that many of our best and brightest started learning about science when they were at school. Australia's record in science is a proud one. I think of the Tidbinbilla deep space tracking station, quite close to us here in Parliament House, and great Australian scientists like Howard Florey, who shared the Nobel Prize in 1945 for his discovery of penicillin. There are many, many others. Scientists lead the research that drives a modern economy; scientists lead the fight against disease; scientists are immunising our children, fighting cancer and looking into space—and the same body of people is telling us, using the same scientific methods, that climate change is real and we must take action. Sir Gustav Nossal, made Australian of the Year in 2000 for his pioneering work in immunology, is highly respected amongst the global scientific community and he told the Sydney Morning Herald last month:

I believe global warming is real. Action has to start now, if not the day before yesterday, for the simple reason that the effects are so long-lasting and so dire that they will linger well into the future.

Regrettably members opposite do not share the views of the scientific community. Senator Bernardi says:

Quite simply, the concept that there is a consensus on the science is one of many fabrications undertaken by the alarmists that has now been debunked.

The Leader of The Nationals in the Senate has said:

I never believed the science is settled. If the science was settled, Copernicus would be dead.

The Leader of the Opposition himself has said that the argument on climate change is absolute crap.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The minister was not asked, in any part of what appeared to be a serious question, about anything to do with the opposition's policies or views, so how could this be in the least bit directly relevant to the question he was asked?

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

I will listen carefully to the minister's response as it relates to the rider to the question that seems to open the door to some of this discussion. I again indicate to the minister that he should not overextend—his answer has to be related to the main part of the question as well.

Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The fact is that these are statements on the record by our leading climate scientists compared and contrasted with statements on the record by opposition politicians.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on the previous point of order: the minister is now attempting, again, to return to the matter about which you made your point before. He should relate his answer to the question. Obviously under the new paradigm that you have imposed today—perhaps the government did not get the memo—they cannot just go back to the old attacking the opposition answers that they have been engaged in since the election. Clearly you have made it obvious to the opposition how we should behave and therefore the minister must respond accordingly, too.

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

I simply say to the minister and the Manager of Opposition Business that I will be listening, hopefully not to the full 36 seconds remaining, to see how the answer relates to how this policy is being received and what is the government's response. There has to be greater effort by ministers, if that is going to be used as cover.

Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am not surprised this causes those opposite some discomfort, but the fact is that what this government is doing about climate change is taking action: supporting renewable energy, supporting some of the biggest solar power stations in the world with the announcement made recently about the solar power stations at Chinchilla and Moree, and most importantly putting a price on carbon—the most environmentally effective and economically efficient way to deal with the dangers of climate change—with a policy that is informed by scientists that have made our country great and with a recognition that we need to get on with the job.

Patrick Secker (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, will the minister table the document that he was obviously reading from word for word?

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

Was the minister reading from a confidential document?

Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, Mr Speaker.