Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to amend general business notice of motion No. 353, standing in my name for today, relating to updating the figures of hectares burnt and the lives lost over summer.

Leave granted.

I move the motion as amended:

(1) That the Senate notes—

  (a) the Bureau of Meteorology's (the Bureau) 2019-20 severe weather outlook has indicated that 'this summer there's a higher chance of extreme heat developing across our inland with soils so dry and an outlook for clearer skies';

  (b) the Bureau has declared that the Murray-Darling Basin is experiencing the most severe drought conditions in 120 years of records;

  (c) at the end of the 2019 sittings, more than 2 million hectares had been burnt by bushfires in New South Wales (NSW) since 1 July, including more than 10% of the area covered by NSW's national parks and reserves;

  (d) at the end of the 2019 sittings, more than 170,000 hectares had been lost in Queensland since the start of the bushfire season and more than 50 bushfires continued to burn across the state; and

  (e) by the start of the 2020 sittings, the bushfire season has resulted in:

     (i) at least 33 lives lost,

     (ii) 18 million hectares of land burned across all States and Territories,

     (iii) more than 3,000 homes destroyed, and

     (iv) more than 1 billion animals killed.

(2) That the State of the Climate 2018 report, authored by the CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology, indicates that, as the climate crisis continues, Australia will see:

  (a) a further increase in temperatures, with more extremely hot days and fewer extremely cool days;

  (b) a decrease in cool-season rainfall across many regions of southern Australia, with more time spent in drought; and

  (c) an increase in the number of high fire weather danger days and a longer fire season for southern and eastern Australia.

(3) That—

  (a) we are in a climate emergency;

  (b) the burning of coal, oil and natural gas is the major global contributor to the climate crisis; and

  (c) this summer, more Australian lives are at risk from extreme heatwaves, bushfires and drought as a result.