Kristina Keneally (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Madam Deputy President, I would be happy if Senator Scarr would like to stand up here in the chamber and clarify what he meant then. Senator Wong gave him the opportunity to clarify what he meant by saying that those on this side of the chamber were not representing the interests of the Australian people but someone else. Who did he mean? Well, there he sits, silent. He could have said, and he has not done so.

Let's return to the matter at hand, which is taking note of the answers to questions posed during question time regarding net zero emissions and this government's failure to work collaboratively with the Australian community, with every state and territory government, with the Business Council of Australia, with the National Farmers Federation and with the biggest companies in this country to commit ourselves to what we've already committed to: the Paris Agreement. That is to keep global warming at less than two degrees. That is for net zero emissions by 2050. Australia ratified that treaty. Malcolm Turnbull, Julie Bishop and Josh Frydenberg—on behalf of this third-term seventh-year Liberal-National government—ratified the Paris Agreement. To quote Gladys Berejiklian, the Liberal Premier of New South Wales: 'Net zero emissions by 2050 is right in line with the Paris Agreement.'

It is extraordinary that this is even controversial. What Labor announced last week is not controversial. It is the commonsense, well-accepted, endorsed proposition of 73 countries. It's been ratified already by this Australian parliament, by this Liberal and National Australian government. It's been endorsed by all those businesses I spoke about earlier and by every state and territory, including Liberal state governments. The fact that this is somehow radical or unusual is just bizarre given that this is the commitment the globe has made. This is the commitment the globe has made and Australia has ratified. Climate change is real. Australians this summer—devastatingly and unfortunately—smelt it, felt it, breathed it in. Tragically, 33 people lost their lives, 3,000 homes were lost and nearly a billion wildlife, our native animals, were lost. That's the cost of climate change, and Australians experienced it in a very real and devastating way.

This weekend I was at the New South Wales state memorial service for the victims of the bushfires. It was sombre and sad. It was extraordinary to see that this is what this country has come to, that in New South Wales we have had the most devastating natural disaster in living memory. And this side of the parliament, the government, this Liberal-National government, seems unwilling to recognise that the climate is changing, and we have already signed up to a target to keep global warming to less than two degrees, a target that is not all that controversial.

Let's talk about the impact on agriculture, because this is one question that Senator Ruston really failed to grapple with. The National Farmers Federation have a more ambitious aspiration than the Labor Party when it comes to net zero emissions. They want net zero emissions for agriculture by 2030. The meat and livestock of Australia have committed to be carbon neutral by 2030. Farmers for climate action support net zero by 2050. The reality is Australian businesses are moving in this direction, Australian farmers are moving in this direction, Australian state and territory governments are moving in this direction, because they know that to do otherwise will bring great economic cost, lost opportunity, a failure to grow economically, a failure to create new jobs and a failure to see ourselves become a renewable energy superpower. It's as if the other side were present at the invention of the automobile and decided we should all still stay in horses and buggies, to keep the buggy manufacturers going. We know that this country is going to have to face climate change, change and adapt, and that's what this target drives us to do.