George Campbell (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

He is not alone on the government side, Senator Watson. In the absence of strong leadership on this issue, members of the government have come up with their own ideas. What are some of those ideas? They are very interesting. The West Australian Liberal MP Dennis Jensen wants to blast a giant shadecloth into space. Estimates in the US have suggested that this would cost around $US200 trillion to achieve. The Minister for Small Business and Tourism, Fran Bailey, also suggested that a shadecloth to cover the Great Barrier Reef would help with coral bleaching. These are terrific proposals. They would be funny except for the fact that these people are actually running the country. What novel ideas to face up to and meet one of the greatest challenges that mankind has ever had to face; what politicians, who would prefer to fund a multitrillion-dollar shadecloth mission to space rather than signing up to Kyoto.

While the Prime Minister, John Howard, is happy to dismiss Sir Nicholas Stern as just another expert and brush off his recommendations, the ALP chooses to take note of the overwhelming evidence the scientific community is providing. A Rudd Labor government will ratify the Kyoto protocol. It will cut Australia’s greenhouse pollution by 60 per cent by 2050. It will establish a national emissions trading scheme, substantially increase the mandatory renewable energy target, establish a greenhouse trigger in federal environment laws and set up a $500 million national clean coal fund and a $500 million green car innovation fund.

We are having an environmental conference on Saturday. This is the start of Labor putting together a plan, in conjunction with the community, that will seek to tackle these vital issues that our community faces and that the globe faces. We will seek to put in place the building blocks for the next federal Labor government to make decisions in respect of our environment that will have an impact and lead to change in the environmental circumstances. (Time expired)