Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

I think I have answered the question about our objectives. We are committed to the Paris Agreement. We are not only committed to reflecting those commitments in our own approach to policy here in Australia, but we are committed to participating in the global conversation to make sure that the world can reach those objectives because there is no disagreement between us on the questions you raise.

A warming world is dangerous for people and damaging to ecosystems. We have to do everything we can, as a country and as a globe, to contain warming. The Paris Agreement gives us the best chance of doing that. You will know better than I that the world has been through stops and starts in our ability to generate global momentum. It mattered a great deal to strike the agreement that was struck in Paris, and it matters, too, that at Glasgow the level of ambition globally was increased. It matters that businesses in Australia are being encouraged by investors globally to set their own targets. There is a momentum towards change and there is more that is going to need to be done.

But, Senator Whish-Wilson, I think where you are really going to is a question about our target. And I've answered that question already in response to questions from Senator Waters. We went to the election and sought a mandate, and we did it in a particular context. We did it in an environment where this country, under the government of those who now sit opposite, was unable to land an energy policy and unable to land a climate policy for nine years—a period in which almost nothing was done by the Commonwealth government on decarbonisation, where the heavy lifting was left to other people, to local communities, to businesses, to states and territories.

Going to an election and receiving a mandate, a wide mandate, to begin a process of change led by the Commonwealth is no small thing. You may think it's a small thing, and that's fine for the Greens. But for a party that seeks to be the party of government, taking a commitment to the election, having it scrutinised in the context of an election, having it debated with those opposite—who, as we've seen this morning, want to deny the science and want to dispute the objective of net zero emissions, as Senator Canavan did—means something. And it means something to walk into a room and to update your nationally determined contribution in the presence of AIG, the ACTU, the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Clean Energy Council.

Building consensus, and bringing people with you, matters. We have a mandate for the target that is embedded in this legislation. We are pursuing the policies that we took to the election. That is actually more important than you appear to be willing to acknowledge.