Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator, through you, Mr President. I think I spoke about the need to take a long-term perspective on what was occurring. One of the differences, I would suspect, between Senator Milne and the government is that the government is acutely conscious of the economic challenge which confronting climate change requires. The point that I have made, not just to Four Corners but a number of times, is that what we have to achieve by 2050 is a very substantial reduction in the greenhouse gas contribution, not just for Australia but for all developed economies, as well as a substantial reduction from developing economies. The peak in global emissions must occur well prior to that. The point I was making and will continue to make is that to achieve the sorts of reductions Australia will need to put in place by midcentury requires an enormous economic transformation. An economic transformation that will take (Time expired)