Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2009 and related bills. Many people in this place will know that, before I entered the parliament, I was the coordinator for the Conservation Council of Western Australia. Prior to that I worked in agriculture, so I have some experience dealing with the issue of climate change. For over two decades I have been personally involved in this debate and it saddens me that some people are still questioning whether or not climate change is real and we are still debating what we are going to do about it.

You have only to look at my home state of Western Australia to know that this debate is not theoretical. We have seen the impacts in the east, but we are also seeing the impacts in Western Australia. In fact, Western Australia was one of the first places to see some of these impacts. Rainfall in the south-west of Western Australia has already decreased by 21 per cent. This has resulted in a decrease in run-off of 64 per cent. These are not figures I have plucked out of the air; these are real figures.

In 1995, the Western Australian government realised that something was happening to our rainfall events and started to plan differently for the way they would manage our catchments and water resources. Some of us were critical that they did not go far enough, but at least they acknowledged that there were issues there. I am not saying that it is totally the result of climate change; it is the result of natural variation and climate change. I hesitate to say that I expect that those figures are going to get worse—that drop in rainfall is only going to get worse. In Western Australia, we already know what it is like to live with a changing climate. The impacts on our wetlands, biodiversity and agricultural systems are also starting to be felt. In fact, it has been noted in Western Australia that some of our farmers are some of the most efficient and effective in the world. They are good at adapting to a changing climate, but the point has been made in WA that our farmers can only adapt so far and they have reached the point where they cannot adapt without having different crops to plant and a great deal of systems support.