Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Friday, I met with four wonderful young people—Rosie, Claire, Nicholas and Michael—who are members of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition branch at the University of Wollongong. They had come to talk to me about their campaign to stop the Adani coalmine and, more broadly, the call for people to take action on climate change, including this parliament. I appreciated the opportunity to have a chat to them. I did reflect to them my own scepticism about the future of the Adani coalmine but, most importantly, made it clear that Labor's policy is that there be no federal funding provided to that mine and also that we feel that it needs to meet the environmental requirements that are proposed. I drew their attention to the comments of the Labor spokesperson, Tony Burke, on concerns about the government's decision not to look at the water trigger issues most recently around that project and to his point that the test which determines to whom the water trigger applies is clear, whether it involves a coalmine or other infrastructure. I was pleased to update them not only on that but also, importantly, on the significant announcements made by Bill Shorten and the Labor team last week on renewable energy and how the importance of a good transition is for the future of this nation and for its youth.