Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I really don't want him near my pocket! But let us see what the eminent scientists in this country say is the real issue. There is the CSIRO. Senator Williams would rely on the CSIRO plenty of times to get information about the climate, about the weather, about what is happening with carbon in the soil—he would rely on that. But he does not believe what the CSIRO say in their recent book, Climate Change: Science and Solutions for Australia. What do the CSIRO say? This is not a political party; this is Australia's scientists. They say: 'Climate change is one of the greatest ecological, economic, and social challenges facing us today.'

We agree on this side that these are huge challenges, but it takes the Labor Party to deal with big challenges. What you get from the coalition is misinformation, fear campaigns and an idealisation of people like Lord Monckton. What do we have? We had Senator Cormann, as I said in the last session, lining up to get Lord Monckton's autograph in Western Australia! That is the sort of level of anti-science that is in the coalition. It is clear that the climate change deniers are in control.

What do the CSIRO say? They say: 'The impacts of climate change are already clearly visible in Australia.' It is not a theory; it is 'clearly visible', according to the scientists. They say:

Southern and eastern Australia’s water supply reliability is expected to decline as a result of reduced rainfall and increased evaporation, affecting irrigation, domestic and industrial water use, and environmental flows.

How could any person who says they stand up for the bush deny the science? It is absolutely a joke.