Cathy McGowan (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present a petition that has been approved by the Standing Committee on Petitions.

The petition read as follows—

To the Honourable The Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives

This petition of the citizens of Wangaratta and surrounding district (constituents of the seat of Indi) and visitors to the district:

Draws to the attention of the House: The urgent threat of climate change

We therefore ask the House to: Recognise the threat of climate change as the major issue currently facing Australia and the world at large and, in so doing, understand that it is too important to be subject to party political bickering and point scoring. Politicians from all sides need to be working together to find the best way to move Australia speedily to a low carbon economy.

As one of the rich countries of the world and a major per capita emitter of carbon we believe Australia has a responsibility to be a leader in the move towards a low carbon world rather than waiting for the rest of the world to act first.

As responsible stewards of this earth, we must heed the URGENT recommendation of the global scientific community to take strong action to restrict global warming to 2 degrees for it to be habitable for all existing lifeforms including future generations of humans.

from 571 citizens

Petition received.

This petition has been prepared by the citizens in Indi. It is signed by residents and visitors in and near the Victorian rural city of Wangaratta and surrounding districts. The intention of the petition is to draw to the attention of the House the urgent threat of climate change.

Scientific evidence published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicates that the Earth would experience disastrous consequences if we do not immediately take action to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit temperature rises to two degrees Centigrade. The petition calls on the House to take the lead by adopting a bipartisan approach on climate change and leading the world towards a low-carbon environment. The petitioners call on the government to respect the science and build a safe climate future for our children and grandchildren and generations to come by enacting immediate and deep reductions to Australians' carbon emissions.

Thank you to Deb Goodson, Marg Brickhill, Helen van Riet and Cathy Oddie for delivering the petition to me personally, and to Rowan O'Hagan, the principal petitioner, and to the 571 concerned citizens who put their names to this petition. I would also like to congratulate the deputation from Wangaratta who marched in the march in Melbourne on Friday and did us proud. Thank you very much.