Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—Labor join with the government in extending our sincere sympathies to the hundreds of Australians who've lost loved ones, homes, farms and livestock in recent weeks due to the terrible bushfires we've seen around most of the country. I think all of us have been touched by the scenes that we've witnessed, and we send our very best wishes to those who are recovering. Last week I visited a number of areas that were badly affected by bushfires in Central Queensland and south-west of Brisbane, and I've seen for myself the long road to recover that many of our fellow Australians face. We also join with the government in thanking emergency personnel, volunteers, community groups and community leaders, who are doing a fabulous job to assist in that recovery effort.

Many have commented that these bushfires are unprecedented in nature, in their breadth, in their intensity and in their timing, starting earlier and going for longer than anything we've seen before. Indeed, the science is telling us that we are likely to see more extreme weather events, bushfires, floods and cyclones, in future, due to climate change. The government's own scientific advisers, CSIRO, the Bureau of Meteorology and emergency leaders are all telling us this.

As leaders, we have a responsibility to listen to this advice and to act, and it's in that spirit that the Labor leader, Mr Albanese, has written to the Prime Minister, seeking an urgent COAG meeting to discuss disaster preparedness. Whatever we think about climate change—and I recognise, in this chamber, there are very many different views about climate change—we owe it to Australians to prepare for a changing future. Labor believe this is a serious challenge facing our nation and that COAG is the appropriate forum to deal with it. We hope the government will take up our suggestion and bring federal, state, territory and local government leaders together to ensure that all Australians are fully protected from the risk that natural disasters will pose into the future.