Chris Ketter (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As a Queensland senator, I am very pleased to participate in this debate in relation to the health of the Great Barrier Reef and the threats that are posed to it. The records for February 2016 indicate that it was the warmest month ever measured globally, at 1.35 degrees Celsius above the long-term average. Even more concerning, February 2016 was more than 0.2 Celsius degrees warmer than January 2016, which held the previous monthly temperature record.

Climate change is indeed the greatest challenge we as a society face. The costs of doing nothing are incalculable. In my own state of Queensland, some regions have been suffering the worst drought in their history. Drought conditions have affected farm production and incomes, leading to reductions in agricultural employment and a reduction in the standard of living. Currently, around 80 per cent of Queensland is drought declared, and the agricultural sector is in serious trouble. Worse still, these conditions impacting on Queensland's agricultural industry are expected to be sustained by the current El Nino weather pattern. It is not the Prime Minister who worries about life in the bush; he does not have to live the struggle. It is the farmers who suffer, the very people who produce the grain for our bread and the sugar for our tea. They are the ones who are living through climate change.

This issue does not stop with the agricultural sector; it trickles down and flows through the veins of the Australian landscape. Our Great Barrier Reef is also under threat. The reef alone contributes billions of dollars to the Australian economy and provides employment for more than 70,000 people, yet it is being destroyed as a result of climate change. Climate change, and its associated impacts, poses the greatest threat to the long-term sustainability of coral reefs worldwide, primarily via mass coral-bleaching events. Rapid increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide are consequently warming ocean temperatures beyond thresholds in which corals can thrive. As corals form the foundation of the reef and provide essential habitat to reef fish and invertebrates, the loss of coral can cause reductions in the populations of other reef inhabitants.

While I am saying these words I am looking at the interim report of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. The authority has handed down an interim report which says the first phase of its surveys shows that:

… 22 per cent of coral on the Reef died due to the worst mass bleaching event on record.

Eighty-five per cent of this mortality occurred in the 600 kilometre stretch between the tip of Cape York and just north of Lizard Island.

Overall, the area south of Cairns escaped significant mortality.

Many different stressors can cause coral bleaching, including freshwater inundation and poor water quality from run-off. However, heat stress from above-average temperatures is the only known cause of mass coral bleaching

This is not just a problem for the future; we are already experiencing the extremes of climate change that threaten the future of our country. Given the scale and imminent threat that we face, I am alarmed that the Turnbull government continues to uphold its do-nothing stance on climate change. In the past two years, the Abbott-Turnbull government has: abolished a price on pollution; abandoned an emissions trading scheme; slashed the renewable energy target; cut funding to carbon capture and storage; tried to abolish the Climate Change Authority and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation; and imposed massive cuts on the CSIRO.

We all remember when Malcolm Turnbull was a champion of climate change action and was prepared to join with Labor in a bipartisan approach to introducing an emissions trading scheme. But now we can see Mr Turnbull's true colours as leader—rather than taking on one of the greatest challenges this country faces, Mr Turnbull has traded up for the cheap thrill of policy-free leadership. This government has slashed CSIRO's budget by $115 million, with 350 CSIRO staff targeted for redundancy—it seems to be the entire climate monitoring capacity. Here we have a government that pays lip service to innovation. Is it true that Malcolm Turnbull does not understand the critical role of basic science as the bedrock of an innovation nation? Of course he does; he only has to read the paper. His policies on climate change are as cynical as his ambitions to get rid of a Senate that disagrees with him.

Labor are prepared to fix things. Only Labor have a policy to strengthen the renewable energy sector and to commit to more ambitious CO2 reduction targets. We will create jobs and drive investment to support the re-emergence of the renewable energy sector—a sector which was doing well but is sadly faltering under the current government's policies.

I am certain that the majority of Australians would agree that the CSIRO needs to be supported as one of Australia's few world-class scientific organisations. Cutting Australia's climate research capacity and damaging its reputation for quality science not only brings into question Turnbull's commitment to innovation; it is a blatant attempt to silence the work that holds the government to account on its climate change policies.

I would like to turn now to Senator Roberts' contribution and would make the comment that this seems to be one of the stranger MPIs to be discussed since I have been in the Senate. I know that the good senator and his One Nation colleagues have had a trip to Great Keppel Island. I commend them for shining a light on this issue and for highlighting the Great Barrier Reef. It is a beautiful part of the world and the place they visited is one of the healthiest parts of the reef. However, their trip seems to have been one that departed from reality. As a senator who has been around for a couple of years, I have seen a few stunts, but on this particular occasion this stunt does not appear to have been very effective. If they wanted to look at the issues affecting the Great Barrier Reef, their trip should have been to Lizard Island; their trip should have been to parts of the reef north of Port Douglas. I note the contribution by the Climate Council's Professor Lesley Hughes that their trip was 'like taking journalists reporting on a conflict to a five-star holiday resort miles away from the actual war zone'.

The claims by Senator Roberts that climate change is not real and that it is in fact a conspiracy are somewhat embarrassing to our country. They are embarrassing for Australians and they are damaging Queensland's standing in the Australian and international science community. Embarrassing as this may be, we need to get back to the facts and to rely on the evidence.

In that regard, I point to recent research by the University of Central Queensland which undertook a survey of 1242 visitors departing the domestic terminal at Cairns International Airport between October 2015 and September 2016. It was part of a larger study of visitors to the Cairns region. It looked in particular at the experiences respondents had of the Great Barrier Reef. In fact, 71 per cent of the sample had visited the Great Barrier Reef during their trip. The survey touches on the issue of the coral-bleaching event of 2016. One of the findings was that, although pre-trip expectations were met in the majority or 59 per cent of cases, there was a gradual decline in expectations being met during and after the event. The critical point I would like to make is that, when asked if they would still have made the trip to Cairns if the Great Barrier Reef was affected by a major coral-bleaching event, those indicating 'yes' rose during and after the coral bleaching event. We know that visitors to the reef did their research; they were aware of the reports on coral bleaching; two-thirds of respondents indicated having read or seen reports on coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef. The majority of these respondents were concerned as a result, with 42 per cent indicating a lot of concern and 43 per cent a little concern. As a result, 45 per cent indicated their information search influenced their decision to visit Cairns.

The argument that green alarmism has been a threat to the reef or has had a negative impact on the marine tourism industry does not hold any water. Senator Roberts, I strongly encourage you and your colleagues to have another look at the research and have another look at the facts. There is a lot at stake in this matter; we need to consider and respect the work of the scientists.