Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in opposition to this legislation that, if it were to pass, would take our country backwards. It was only just over two years ago that it was with great honour that I and many of my colleagues here in this place were able to vote in support of real action on climate change. That came after massive discussion and debate amongst the Australian population and community. People desperately wanted, after years of being ignored, to see Australia grapple with the fact that we needed to take action on climate change and we needed legislation in our parliament to help deliver and drive that change.

That day, Australia became a world leader; today we are here debating the repeal of that legislation. We are at risk of being taken backwards by a government that refuses to recognise the threat of global warming. It saddens me to stand here and have to defend the only laws that this country has to reduce the devastating effects of global warming. The evidence has now become even clearer. Hundreds of climate scientists are telling us that climate change is becoming more severe, that humans are causing it and that we can expect more dangerous summers and weather events in our future if we do not act now.

This summer alone has been even further evidence that we are already experiencing the impacts of climate change—bushfires, floods, extreme weather events and days of extreme heat, as well as the health impacts of all of those, the loss of family homes and the impact on our agricultural industries. The drying effects of climate change impact on our weather patterns and on our broader community.

This government is taking us backwards with this legislation, rather than being visionary and seeing what we can be doing for the future to secure industries that are going to need to adapt to a change in climate and to invest in clean and renewable production that we know we need in order to power our homes, our businesses, our cities, our towns and our industries into the future. This government is taking us backwards by abolishing the Climate Commission, cutting the climate department and now trying to dismantle the price on pollution. If we allow Tony Abbott to come in with his wrecking ball over all of these things, what has Australia got left? Not much. We know that the government's plans for Direct Action amount to virtually nothing when it comes to having a significant reduction on the impacts of climate change. We, indeed, would be the first country in the world to dismantle a carbon market that is already reducing emissions.

We know that the next thing on Tony Abbott's list, when he brings in his wrecking ball, is the Renewable Energy Target. That is on Tony Abbott's next hit list. That is going to decimate the renewable energy sector in Australia and in particular in my home state in South Australia. This is all happening at a time when we are already seeing the results of living in a warmer, wetter world. The severity of extreme climate events is increasing. In Australia, that is already having a devastating result.

Nature has given us a reality check and we need strong action on climate change. It is urgent. As leaders in this country, we must respond. As a mother, it is my duty to prepare my daughter for the future. I will not sit idly by while this government turns protecting her future into a political football. We do need to be talking about the impacts of our decisions in years to come—not just in the next election cycle, not just in the next news cycle—and not just on who will be the next leader of the Liberal Party or indeed the Labor Party. It is about protecting the future of the next generation and working to protect our children's future. Putting our heads in the sand, as Tony Abbott would prefer, and ignoring the science—