Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

What a poor performance from this Queensland senator in this important discussion. Senator Williams spoke of the concern he had about the comments I and my colleague Senator Milne, who I am sure will speak on this matter, made about the predictions from scientists that we would see worse and more destructive flood events, as well as heat, bushfire and drought events, as a result of climate change. I do not subscribe to this new political correctness which comes from the opposition implying that one ought not to speak about the generator of climate change, which is the burning of fossil fuels. I have not subscribed to it, and nor will I, because I believe that the evidence is in and is compelling—the scientists tell us it is more than 90 per cent the case that human generated fossil fuel emissions into the atmosphere are causing increased temperatures around the globe, including in the ocean, and one of the outcomes of that is the warmest oceans around northern Australia in recorded history. With La Nina, this is leading to the greater likelihood of greater precipitation events just as we have seen recently.