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

I'm outraged at this policy. I'm outraged that George Brandis can call what we are trying to bring this Senate's attention to a stunt. This is about the future of the planet. This is about the future of our children and our grandchildren, and he has the audacity to call it a stunt.

I'll tell you what a stunt is. A stunt is the Prime Minister's weak attempt to pretend to this country that he is doing something about climate change and that he is doing something about power prices. He isn't. He's just pulling a stunt to try to appease Mr Abbott, who thinks climate change is good for this planet and who is a laughing stock around the world. Mr Abbott is the guy who wants to throw goats in the volcano. He's not the one who is trying to undermine how the globe responds to climate change. Mr Turnbull is fully owned by Mr Abbott and big business, who want nothing but to make a few short-term profits at the risk of future generations. That's what this debate is about.

All the coalition can say in response to this motion is, 'This is a stunt,' because they don't want to own up that they have completely capitulated and they don't want to own the fact that we will never meet our Paris targets now. We will not. They have handed climate change policy totally to Mr Abbott. The flat-earthers of this country should hang their heads in shame rather than come in here and try to justify their appalling policy. They are setting us back decades and are condemning this planet.