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

I really wouldn't accept as facts what you've outlined. You characterise them as facts. I'd probably describe them more as opinions.

This government accepts the science of climate change, and, indeed, so do Australians. Australians do that because they, unfortunately, are living with the early manifestations of a changing climate. We have been through a period, over the last three or four years, of unprecedented fires and floods. These circumstances put many Australians in harm's way, saw immense destruction of property, and continue to have ongoing impacts on our economy. I understand, because you've communicated it very regularly here and in committees, that you don't accept this science. But the world's scientists are telling us that we have a problem. They're telling us that this is the critical decade to act, and the Australian people expect us to do that.

I trust the science. I trust the scientific process and the scientific method that allow contestability in published research. I recognise that, for reasons you've never entirely explained, you consider that the method of peer review produces inaccurate information. I don't share that view. I think that the world has been well served by the propagation of the scientific method. I think we've been well served by the many scientists, including eminent Australian scientists, who've devoted their lives to understanding the challenges that confront us, many of them devoting their lives to communicating properly with Australians about the impacts that will come about with a warming planet.

The IPCC is telling us that human activities, principally through emissions of greenhouse gases, have unequivocally caused global warming, with global surface temperatures reaching 1.1 degree Celsius above 1850 to 1900 in 2011 to 2020. Global greenhouse gas emissions have continued to increase with unequal, historical and ongoing contributions arising from unsustainable energy use, land use and land use change, lifestyle, patterns of consumption and production across regions, between and within countries and among individuals. They tell us that with high confidence.

These changes have real costs. I accept that you don't believe this. As I've said to you before, I'm not sure that anything I can say in this forum will change your mind, Senator Roberts. We've spent quite a bit of time together; I don't see you changing your views.