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

I also rise to speak on the Clean Energy Legislation (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013 and the related package of legislation that is currently before the chamber, while the government continues putting its wrecking ball through Australia's climate policy and its climate legislation framework.

Of course, we will be opposing this legislation. The carbon pricing legislation is in fact a remarkable example of successful legislation, of legislation that was carefully designed to address climate change in an intelligent manner that will deliver the transformation of our economy—which is exactly what we have to do in the face of climate change.

What those on the other side do not get, and what climate deniers do not get, is that climate change will transform our world, our economy and the way that we live. So we need a legislative and policy response that addresses that transformation but helps guide that transformation in a way that delivers a stronger, cleaner and greener economy and that builds that economy and does not wreck that economy.

What the government proposes to put in place is 'direct action'. There is nothing direct about it—there is, in fact, no policy around 'direct action'. The only direct action that has in fact been taken is to directly deny climate change and directly focus on policies that will wreck our economy and will not lead us to a new, clean, green economy and will not transform our economy.

That directly relates to the impacts that climate change is already having on our world—for example, in my home state of Western Australia. I note that on Saturday, the first day of autumn, Perth was sweltering in 38-degree heat. The irony was not lost on me at the time, sitting in that 38-degree heat on the first day of autumn, that the legislation coming up in this place was going to be the government trying to wreck the climate package that was put in place and that is starting to be effective and would have delivered the change required.

In Western Australia the 2011-12 summer was Perth's hottest on record and the 2013-14 summer was the second-hottest on record. In fact we have had the eight hottest years in the last decade. Perth's summer was the driest for five years—we had only two millimetres of rain. In Mandurah—which, for those who do not know Western Australia, is the region immediately south of Perth and in fact is one of the Perth southern suburbs—it was the driest on record. We are in a drying climate in Western Australia. The Bureau of Meteorology was reported as saying that we are in a warming, drying climate. They are confirming that in Western Australia. They said that the trend is going up. It seems foolish to ignore that trend. The climate does not change like this. This is really remarkable. In other words, we are seeing the impacts of climate change in Western Australia.

We are seeing changes across the south-west of our state that threaten the very future of agriculture as we know it. Although we did have bumper crops in some areas in Western Australia—and I have heard wonderful stories about those crops—in other areas we still have farmers who are in drought. In the north-eastern part of the agricultural wheat belt they are still in drought. Of the 100 to 150 farmers in the who are affected by drought, many of them did not in fact put their header into the crop. Those farmers are feeling climate change now. Bunbury, in Western Australia's south-west, has had eight of its hottest summers since the turn of the century.

In commenting on the impact of climate on drought, CSIRO said just two weeks ago that the modelling shows that climate trends will transform agricultural regions and see many farms disappear. Climate change is happening. It is happening now. It is transforming our agricultural regions, so we need to be transforming our agriculture to address the transformation that is going to occur in our regions.

But what do we get? We get the minister for agriculture saying that you cannot plan for drought, that it is an exceptional circumstance—we are going back to that old language of 'exceptional circumstances'—and that we have to rely on the good Lord for rain. In fact, that is not what is going to fix and address climate change. It is nonsense to say that we have to rely on the good Lord for rain when the science shows quite clearly that climate change is happening and is changing our environment and our climate and is therefore changing our economy, because you cannot de-link the economy from the climate and from our environment. Looking at agriculture in particular, we are in a warmer, drying climate. We need to acknowledge it. We need to invest in addressing that and we need to invest in transforming our agriculture.

I have said in this place a number of times that in Western Australia, for example, it is well known that our farmers have been very adaptable. They have adapted to the Western Australian environment, because trying to grow crops in Western Australia is difficult. They had to be innovative to survive and start agriculture in Western Australia in the first place. But as the economist Ross Kingwell, who used to work for the department of agriculture said: 'WA farmers have adapted as far as they can to the change in climate. We need to be investing in addressing climate change and investing in the technology and the changes that will enable our agriculture to adapt to the change in climate.'

While we have this head-in-the-sand approach to climate change we will not put in place the changes that are necessary to address climate change. Nothing was more evidence of this than when the government last week announced the drought package, which had many mechanisms in it that we need to support farmers and deal with the most immediate crisis facing our farmers. But there was a complete lack of framework or context to what is happening overall to our climate and the impact that is having in making our extreme weather events more extreme and in making it more difficult for farmers to adapt to the changing climate. We need to continue to make the small changes that have enabled them in the past to be able to grow crops and develop our agricultural assistance. They cannot adapt alone.

This government is not only burying its head in the sand but pulling apart the architecture that was put in place to actually start helping. The funds we are putting aside to help our agriculture to adapt and help address the effects on our physical environment—such as the Biodiversity Fund—are being scrapped. They are going. That is not a sign of a clever country. It is not a sign that the government is taking climate change seriously, and of course we know it does not.

We need to be preparing for this change, which is what the legislation being repealed by this package of bills was designed to do. It was designed to put in place the changes needed to help us be ready for the impact that climate change is going to have on our economy, an impact which is going to be even more severe than what we are already experiencing. We need to be able to prevent and mitigate further damage to sectors like agriculture. By denying climate change and denying global warming, Mr Abbott and his government are failing Australians.

One of my portfolios is the marine environment. The impact of climate change on the marine environment seems to be something else the government is in denial about. The government is ignoring the fact that climate change is having an increasing impact on our marine environment, an impact which will in turn have an impact on the economy based on that environment—tourism, commercial fishing, recreational fishing and other recreational activities focused on the marine environment.

It is clear from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that climate change is impacting on sea levels and is causing ocean warming, increased acidification and changes to salinity levels. Climate change has also been linked to alterations in some of our ocean currents, driving them closer to the poles. These all threaten our marine environment. That environment will be impacted on and is, in fact, already being impacted on. As these trends continue, the distribution of marine life will change. We are already seeing that around Australia. As an example, the waters off the coast of Western Australia to the south are becoming warmer. We are already seeing problems with invasive marine species. We are already seeing fish—tropical species—in these waters that we have never seen before. I have spoken before in this place about how there are websites with maps onto which people can upload posts about species they have caught which are outside their normal distribution range. These sites make very interesting reading.

This is significant for the way we manage our fisheries. Again, by denying climate change and its impact, we are also limiting our opportunities to put in place mechanisms to help us plan for the future and manage our fisheries better. The sensible approach would be to put management regimes in place now that reflect what will happen as a result of climate change, that adjust catch sizes and quotas to reflect what will happen under a warming, acidifying ocean.

Healthy and sustainable fisheries and marine life are extremely important to our economy. The Centre for Policy Development did a study of the south-west of Western Australia and showed that industries there which are based on the marine environment generate $2.9 billion each year. We are talking about a significant impact on our economy, an impact that this government is in denial about.

Our oceans and marine life are under increasing pressure from a range of threats—overfishing, pollution, and oil and gas exploration and production, for example. Our oceans are already under a significant amount of pressure, and climate change is adding to that. Climate change, as I said, is linked to ocean warming, increased acidification and changes to ocean currents, all of which impact our marine ecosystems. Climate change will also, as I was saying, increase the threat to our biosecurity. Changes to our oceans will affect the distribution of fish species and their growth rates. Some species may increase in numbers. Others, however, may reduce in numbers. The implications of this represent a profound threat to our biosecurity.

The recent reports of coral bleaching in Western Australia are an illustration of how the very foundations of our marine ecosystems are at risk. There is a study being done at the moment by the CSIRO and University of Western Australia of some beautiful coral areas off the Pilbara coast. It is an area with a stunning environment that has to be managed around the activities of the oil and gas industry—which is ironic because the extraction of that gas and oil leads to the promotion of further climate change through increased carbon dioxide emissions. On the study's most recent research trip, evidence of coral bleaching in the Pilbara region was found. Sadly, this included the breaching of a pocket of ancient coral heads, many of which were close to 400 years old and have been an important record of reef health. It is suspected this bleaching event was due to the marine heatwaves that have occurred in the region over the last couple of summers. I for one can attest to the fact that the water off Perth is noticeably warmer.

We know that marine environments need to be protected from these threats. Part of the approach is to ensure that there are adequate legislative protections. But the government are instead trying to remove those protections through this package of bills. That takes me to the action the government have taken to get rid of our marine parks. I hear the government saying: 'We have not got rid of marine parks. That 10-year process you had in place to thoroughly look at the science and plan for bioregion marine planning—we have not cancelled that. We have just cancelled the management plans!' What that means is that all we have now are lines on a map—because there has been no change to the management of those areas. This government scrapped the management plans, effectively scrapping those marine parks. As I confirmed in estimates last week, the activities that have been going on in those areas can continue—another stake in the heart of our marine ecosystems. To address climate change we need to have a resilient marine environment and, to achieve that, we need to have marine protected areas. This government have effectively scrapped the marine parks. They are knocking down every level of protection we can put in place.

The biggest crime is their denial of climate change and failure to take that adequately into account. So now around Australia we have lines, on maps, continuing—regardless—for marine park activities. Marine sanctuaries are a key tool for helping protect our marine environment. They protect fish stocks. They put in place proper management of those areas. They help rebuild our marine life and make it much more resilient in the face of climate change. We have a world-leading legislative and policy approach that was carefully crafted to put in place mechanisms that would help us transform our economy, because there is absolutely no doubt that our economy is under threat from climate change. It is under threat from fossil fuels continuing to burn. We need to be smart and clever. We always say this is the smart and clever country—it is not. It is about to commit another crime against the planet, by getting rid of this package.

Climate change will change our environment. Future generations will be turning around and saying, if this package goes, 'How did you get it so wrong, granny?' or 'Great-grandad, how did you get it so wrong? You knew the science. It was there. You could see the climate change in front of you.' Open your eyes and look at the impact this it is having on our planet. Look at the droughts that are getting worse, more often. Instead of making platitudinous statements about 'waiting for the good Lord and the rain', wake up and realise that we need to be changing now. We will be held culpable into the future because you failed to heed the warnings while this was happening around you.

We, for one, will not support the destruction of this legislation. We need to do everything we can to plan for a better future and strong, resilient economy. That is what this legislation is about. You are failing this planet; you are failing Australians. (Time expired)