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

For anyone who takes the time to look at the IPCC report released yesterday, it is genuinely concerning reading. In some respects it simply repeats things that we have known for some time—that we do face an extremely big challenge around climate change—but it is brought into stark relief when you look at the data and the evidence that that report presents. In particular, the evidence in this report regarding the likely impact of climate change on our regions makes for very stark reading.

Even if you just look at what it has to say about northern Australia, one of the regions, anyone who cares about the future of northern Australia should really have pause for thought and should really be committing themselves to taking action. I will note just a couple of things that the report has to say about northern Australia. It observes that northern Australia has already seen a rise in annual rainfall and heavy rain events and that the region will face heavier rainfall in future. The report states:

Heavy rainfall and river floods are projected to increase in Australia in the future.

It has similar things to say about sea levels, coastal flooding, seashore erosion, bushfires and cyclones as well.

It is very clear from this report that it is our regions in particular which will bear the brunt of our failure collectively as a nation to take action on climate change. Every LNP politician who likes to come in here and bang on about how much they care about the regions is actually betraying the regions. They are betraying regional Australians through their continued refusal to take action on climate change. When we see bushfires, they don't happen in the Sydney CBD and, when we see cyclones, they don't happen in the Melbourne CBD—they don't happen on Collins Street; they happen in regional Australia. Bushfires, cyclones and floods overwhelmingly happen in regional Australia. It's our regions that are on the front line when it comes to the effects of climate change, and it is our regions who are being so grossly let down by a government that pretends to be on their side.

What is the government doing to protect our regions from climate change? Well, the answer, as with so many other things, is nothing. This is a government, this is a Prime Minister, that never takes responsibility whether it be for COVID, whether it be for bushfires through the black summer or whether it be now, when we face this big climate change challenge. It's a government that is always slow to act. We saw the Prime Minister ignore repeatedly warnings and requests for meetings from fire chiefs before the black summer bushfires. All they wanted to do was warn him about the risks and encourage him to take action. He ignored them and refused to meet them, and we saw the devastating effects afterwards from this Prime Minister failing to take responsibility, failing to lead the nation and being so slow to act. This government's ongoing ignorance of the risk of climate change and ongoing refusal to take action on climate change are literally putting Australians at risk, especially in regional Australia. At the same time, the government's refusal to take action on climate change is denying regional Australians opportunities—because there are opportunities that come for our regions if we take serious action on climate change.

We are already seeing businesses around regional Australia come to grips with the challenge, adjust and, in fact, make money and create jobs out of this. Not that long ago I was at the Sun Metals Zinc Refinery in Townsville, one of the biggest energy users in Queensland, which is already progressively moving its power sources to solar and is on track to convert to carbon-neutral power in the next couple of decades. This is happening now. Companies are creating jobs in regional Australia by making this adjustment now. It's why groups like the National Farmers Federation are on board with net zero emissions. It's why Rio Tinto, BHP, Santos, Origin and every big energy producer and consumer in the country is on board. The only group that isn't on board is this government. This government, because it doesn't take action on climate change, is chasing jobs out of regional Australia and into other countries' arms. I want to see these jobs created in places like Gladstone. I want to see them created in Rocky, Townsville, Darwin and Cairns. I don't want to see them created overseas. But we need a government that is prepared to take action on climate change and grasp this opportunity.