Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to commend Senator Roberts for getting to the heart of this debate. There is no logical justification for the major parties' terrible climate-change policies. Let's look at the facts. Climate policy is aimed at reducing global emissions of carbon dioxide. Global carbon dioxide emissions are increasing because carbon dioxide follows temperature by approximately 700 years or more; therefore climate policy is not working. It's not working, because the world's human population is the source of only three per cent of the world's carbon dioxide. The rest comes from natural sources, like volcanoes, animals, soil and oceans. Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. It's a natural gas essential to virtually all life on earth. The major parties' climate policies do not address the 97 per cent of carbon dioxide from natural sources, because they can't—it's beyond anyone's control. Instead of having their intended effect, the major parties' climate policies have only ever had one real impact: electricity costing more. Electricity today costs three times as much as it did 20 years ago. Australia has some of the biggest natural energy resources in the world but pays some of the highest energy prices in the world, due in part to a profound shortage of energy. This does not make any sense.

Yesterday we were treated to a childish display of temper from Greens Senator McKim across the chamber at Senator Canavan over Australia's one per cent of human carbon dioxide emissions. Why aren't these Greens yelling at China, responsible for 30 per cent of human carbon dioxide? That country produces 12 billion tonnes of it, and this will rise by another two billion tonnes by 2030. This would wipe out any reductions by Australia, which produces less than 500 million tonnes. You could reduce Australia's carbon dioxide to zero overnight and, within a year, this reduction would be overtaken by China's increased carbon dioxide. China also mines almost 4.5 billion tonnes of coal per year. Australia mines about 560 million tonnes. Senator McKim and his fellow Greens hypocrites love to run down and insult Australia but never say a word about the country which produces 25 times as much carbon dioxide as Australia and nine times as much coal. The Greens are the very definition of hypocrisy, with absolutely no empathy for Australian families struggling with some of the highest energy bills in the world. Senator McKim would do well to understand that a lack of empathy is the very definition of a psychopath.