Lisa Singh (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Once again we have the opportunity—thanks to those opposite bringing this MPI topic on today, as they continue to do day after day—for the government to highlight yet again the positive aspects of the clean energy package that we bring to this parliament for the betterment of all people in Australia. Today, government senators are able to particularly highlight the positive aspects of our clean energy package for the tourism industry. I cannot think of another industry as poignantly positioned to benefit right now from having a clean energy future in this nation as tourism, because we know that those in the tourism sector—often small business; some larger businesses—highlight very much their brand, and their brand is all linked to the natural beauty of the environment, which they are trying to sell. In Tasmania I can name a number of operators that fit that very mould.

We have to go back for a second and recognise why we are doing this. We are doing this because the science is clear. We have been made very aware by scientists from the CSIRO and various other institutes of great reputation that we have to do something to act on climate change. We know the impacts that will occur in some of our iconic tourism locations in Australia such as the Great Barrier Reef, the Whitsundays and the Daintree, but I want to share with the senators in the chamber today the impact of the outcome of climate change on Tasmania.

Tasmania is an island state. It is surrounded by water, and those sea level rise issues will have an impact in our state. But of course we in Tasmania are not being idle but are acting on that already. A great example of local tourism operators in Tasmania being proactive is from the Green Tourism program, formerly known as the Green TEA program. It is a federally funded program that was announced in 2008 by the Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson, and local member Julie Collins. Forty tourism operators received support to evaluate and implement environmental best practice in Tasmania. That means things like recording and reducing energy use, water use and waste.

Many Tasmanian businesses—many tourism businesses especially but also agriculture and niche exports—rely very much on the beautiful and unique natural environment of Tasmania, something we have an abundance of and are very proud of as Tasmanians. But those Tasmanian businesses know very much that some of the biggest drawcards for modern tourism are to stay in accommodation and engage in activities that respect the environment. That is why we have a number of tourism operators in Tasmania that have moved into that ecotourism space. And that is why Green Tourism participants and the participation, accreditation and promotion process that participants went through were so successful. They understand that reducing their carbon footprint is not just good business sense in terms of attracting customers; it is also serious corporate social and environmental responsibility, something they take seriously as part of their brand. This clean energy package fits very tightly with that brand. In fact, in 2009, Green Tourism participants saved the equivalent greenhouse gas emissions of taking 24 cars off the road for one year.

Even before a carbon price, energy efficiency, reducing the carbon footprint of businesses, has always been, for those businesses, about saving money and making businesses run better. Small businesses especially understand the benefits of reducing waste and increasing the return from enterprises that inevitably have some environmental impact. Some businesses have not had the training and skills to improve their environmental practice, and that is why the government's clean energy package is designed to give some incentive to the bigger polluters to do what small tourism operators know and do so well—in the south of Tasmania, at least—and that is cleaning up their operations in the way that I have just described through the Green Tourism program.

I want to name some of those Tasmanian tourism operators because they are exemplary in the way that they care for the natural beauty of our state. They care for our natural environment and they embrace a clean energy future. Two of those businesses are Tasman Island Cruises and Bruny Island Cruises. They are run by Rob Pennicott. Rob's businesses have consistently been ranked amongst the best and most successful of businesses in Tasmania. He has embraced environmental best practice. It is something he takes very seriously. We have tourists coming from not only all over Australia but all over the world to experience Rob's Bruny Island cruise experience. In fact, according to Green Tourism, performing above best practice by implementing a suite of sustainable actions is exactly what Rob Pennicott's business is all about.

There are accommodation providers like Church Studio Franklin, which recycles, has installed energy efficient globes and double glazing and is operating above its base environmental standard. There are restaurants like Brookfield Vineyard, which has managed to reduce its energy use by 33 per cent this year alone, saving money and supporting the environment.

Tourism in Tasmania will continue to be strong when we have tourism operators who think about their business models, think about their markets and have an innovative approach to running business. As long as we have those kinds of businesses, the small impact of carbon pricing on tourism will pale in comparison with the opportunities that a clean energy, clean tourism future offers them. Businesses understand the economics in this space when we talk about a clean energy future, but businesses also understand the science. That completely differs from those coalition senators in this place who do not understand the science. I ask those coalition senators, especially those Tasmanian coalition senators, to talk to Rob Pennicott, to talk to Brookfield Vineyard, to talk to some of those Tasmanian tourism operators who are already going beyond their environmental duty, so to speak, to lift their standards to protect their brand in Tasmania, because Tasmania is known—as those senators opposite are very aware—as a state of iconic beauty. That is why people come to Tasmania as tourists. They come to see that natural beauty. They want that natural beauty to always be there and they want to ensure that the experience that they go through when being part of that natural beauty is a quality experience, is an experience where we all respect our natural environment. Those tourism operators get it, they get the science, and senators in this place should have a conversation with someone like Rob Pennicott to actually try to understand where they are coming from, the values they believe in and why they continue to invest into Tasmania in the way that they do.

It is time for the opposition to accept the science. The world is warming. We do need to act now to protect Australia's iconic tourism drawcards, not just for ourselves, not even just for those tourists, but for all the workers that work in that industry. In Tasmania one of the biggest drawcards for young people into certain part-time work, casual work, work experience and the like is actually in the tourism industry. It employs a number of young people. It is our young people that this is all about, isn't it, Senator Bushby? It is about our children, isn't it? Clean energy future is about our children, about our young people. That is why government senators on this side of the House believe in a clean energy future and believe in acting on climate change—so that our young people and the generations to come will enjoy the beauty that Tasmania and the rest of Australia has to offer by having a pollution free environment and an environment that protects its natural resources.