Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am quoting from the West Australian. It goes on:

“Humankind in its activity just reached the limits of the closed system of our planet Earth,” …

The sceptics on the other side do not like the fact that we are consulting. They are in complete denial. They just will not accept the fact that we are undertaking an economically responsible position. It is a hard position, as we heard earlier. Because we do not take the emu approach and bury our heads in the sand and say, ‘It’s all too hard so we’re not going to do it,’ they want to have a little panic. The opposition have had more positions on this than I saw in the last ballet concert I went to. They have had 14 positions in 15 months. I have been to ballet concerts that had fewer positions than that.

The global financial crisis is having a substantial impact here at home. We know that. We cannot deny it. The Rudd government are working towards making the best of that situation. We are working around the clock to make sure that our country is buffered against the full force of the global economic crisis. We are working hard to get the balance right. When you listen to the scaremongering and the irrational concerns of those from the other side, it makes you wonder what they are actually doing here.

The global financial crisis highlights exactly why it is important that we tackle the big economic challenges of the future, which those opposite denied. They refused to do anything in 12 years of government. That is why people voted for change and wanted a change of government. They were fed up with the approach of the then government of living in the fifties and that is exactly what is happening in regard to climate change. They refuse to accept that it is happening. They are still living in the fifties and they do not want to move on. Australians want the government to deal with this issue so that their kids and future generations are not punished because we failed to take any action. I do not want my grandchildren brought up in a society that suffers so much from climate change and from impacts such as drought and extreme weather conditions. Those opposite should not say that it is not happening—that is just being complete sceptics.

Adaptation to the emerging impacts on climate change forms a key pillar of the Rudd government’s comprehensive response to the threat of climate change. We are demonstrating leadership on climate change. The first job we undertook when in government was to ratify the Kyoto protocol. The Prime Minister, ministers and senior officials have worked through key high-level forums to drive multilateral negotiations on a post-2012 agreement. We are reducing the greenhouse gas emissions as much as we can. We are adapting to the impacts of climate change but we cannot avoid those climate change issues. We are helping to shape a global solution to this global problem. It is no good for those opposite to bury their heads in the sand and pretend it does not exist.

As I said, the global financial crisis is having a substantial impact in Australia but the government will not be diverted from building a low-pollution economy for Australia’s future. Australians want the government to deal with this issue so that future generations are not punished because we did not take any action. (Time expired)