Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Corporate Governance and Responsibility) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the motion moved by Senator Milne. I indicate that the opposition will be supporting this motion. I came in for the conclusion of Senator Milne’s speech. I may have misheard her, but I think she was being critical of the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Rudd, as not being realistic about climate change. I have to say that that is yet another extraordinary example of Green hyperbole in this chamber, which I am getting a little tired of, given that the federal Labor Party has made its position in relation to climate change very clear. We have said for some time that this is a critical issue. I challenge people on the crossbenches to find a time in Australia’s history where there has been a leader of one of the major political parties, one of the parties capable of government, who has made an environmental issue such as this such a central political issue in their agenda for the future.

Labor absolutely understands the reality of climate change. We recognise that this is one of the key challenges facing Australia. This is one of the critical issues a government must face and must tackle. Unlike the Howard government, we accept the science. We say the science is in. We are not, unlike the government, in the game of pretending that this does not exist. What we see on the other side is Mr Howard belatedly recognising that climate change is a political issue, belatedly recognising that he has to be seen to be responding and putting forward a whole range of pretend policies, aspirational target type policies through APEC and so forth, to look as if he is doing something about it.

We on the other side know that this is a government filled with people who deny the reality of climate change. That is not verballing them. All you have to do is listen to some of the speeches given by Senator Minchin, the Leader of the Government in the Senate. Read some of what he has said, or read the recent article by Senator Cory Bernardi, from my own state of South Australia, who yet again put forward the view that the jury in the case for human activity having impacted on climate change is still out. I think the Australian electorate is tired of that debate. I think the Australian electorate is tired of politicians who, for ideological reasons, want to hide their heads in the sand and run away from one of the critical, central challenges that this country faces, that the globe faces and that humanity faces.

We on this side of the chamber understand how important this issue is. We recognise that it is important not just in environmental terms but in economic and social terms. This is one of the issues that Senator Milne’s motion goes to. That is why Mr Rudd has made this a central aspect of Labor’s agenda for change, a central aspect of Labor’s plan for the future. We believe that any future government has to realistically and practically tackle climate change. We have put forward a range of policies to deal with that.

We saw the Leader of the Opposition hold a climate change summit which was instrumental in progressing the discussion about how to deal with this. We have said we would commission the equivalent of the Stern report, to be done by Professor Garnaut, to look at some of the economic impacts. This is the issue that the government seems to misunderstand. Senator Minchin, Senator Bernardi and Mr Macfarlane seem to think that this is some sort of fringe issue. They cannot get over their blind prejudices when it comes to this issue. The reality is that this is a central economic issue. This is a key economic issue, as well as a social and environmental one. You cannot assert that you are prudent and good economic managers if you are hiding or refusing to acknowledge the extent of the consequences of climate change on the Australian economy and the Australian community.

We on this side understand absolutely that climate change will have a dramatic impact on our nation and, in relation particularly to the sea level rise which was flagged in the IPCC fourth assessment report, obviously climate change will have a dramatic impact on Australia’s coastal communities. The federal government knows this. They may like to try to obfuscate and have various ministers and backbenchers write about it—and I see Senator Bernardi has come in. I acknowledge, Senator Bernardi, that I probably did not give you any warning that I was going to mention you in this debate, but I am glad that you are here to respond. Senator Bernardi, like Senator Minchin, is another one of those on that side who deny or are sceptical about the reality of climate change and whether human activity has in fact affected it. You are entitled to that view. I have to say I find it extraordinary given the weight of scientific agreement about this.