Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I'm going to read a speech from young Daniel Mills, an eight-year-old who goes to Nailsworth Primary School in my electorate of Adelaide. Daniel says:

What change would make Australia a better place for future generations? I have a few ideas. Less fossil fuels should be burned to create electricity so we have a cleaner future. The burning of fossil fuels is causing climate change, and that is worrying me. I feel like in the future our earth will die. Burning fossil fuels creates pollution, which is bad for our planet.

Climate change is making the weather wilder. Storms and droughts are more common. This means that we risk not being able to grow food and people will starve.

The extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which comes from burning fossil fuels, is trapping heat, making Earth's temperature rise. A rising temperature on Earth will cause the ice to melt in the Arctic and Antarctica. This will mean that many people around the world will lose their homes.

Human beings are harming planet Earth in other ways too. Waste from factories and houses can pollute rivers, and our forests are being cut down, which destroys animals and homes. But there are solutions to this problem, and this would make Australia a better place for future generations for people like me.

I think we should use more solar power and wind turbine electricity. This is because solar and wind power are renewable resources which do not harm planet Earth. They don't release carbon dioxide, and they won't eventually run out.

We live in such a sunny place, every house should have solar panels and battery storage. It should be cheaper. The Australian government should make it—

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