Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I'd just like to congratulate all of my Greens parliamentary colleagues on contributing to this particular debate this morning and highlighting the sheer hypocrisy of this government, and of successive governments federally and around the country, when it comes to the issue of forestry and logging. It's all very well and good to be worried about illegal logging outside of Australia; meanwhile, we have laws in this country that continue and sanction the destruction of our native forests and the critical habitat for our endangered wildlife and species.

Many Australians don't know that Australia's laws right now allow for the continued destruction, bulldozing and logging of our native forests. We hear a lot about the destruction of forests in other countries. Meanwhile, here in Australia, ancient woodlands, ancient forests and ancient rainforests are being destroyed without any need for environmental assessment or approval. Our laws are fundamentally broken. There is a loophole—a logging loophole—that allows for the destruction of our native forest, regardless of whether it's koala habitat or swift parrot habitat, regardless of whether it's the home of the masked owl, which, of course, is endangered.

In 2024, when our planet is facing the dual crises of biodiversity loss and global warming, our environment is in collapse and, rather than stopping making the situation worse, we have a law in this country that allows for our beautiful forests to be destroyed. And, not just that, it's often paid for with taxpayers' money. Taxpayers are funding the destruction of our native forest, and our laws rubberstamp the logging, the chainsaws, the bulldozers. This has to change.

If we are serious about tackling the worst parts of global warming and the climate crisis, we have to stop destroying our forests. If we're serious about halting the extinction of the koala, we have to stop destroying our native forests and woodlands. If we're serious about protecting nature before many of our animals and wildlife species are gone for good, we have to stop the logging of our native forests. It should be illegal. It should be illegal to destroy native forests. It should be illegal to chop down those ancient trees. It should be illegal to bulldoze the homes of critically endangered animals.

This parliament is being faced with a package of legislation right now that does little to protect our native forests and little to protect our endangered wildlife and native species. The Labor government promised the Australian people that they would fix our environment laws and that they'd stop the extinction of our native animals, yet before this Senate this week as a package of legislation that does not stop any of this destruction. In fact, what we're hearing is that the Prime Minister himself wants to gut protections even further to satisfy the interests of the big mining corporations and the big-business lobby groups. Too afraid to stand up for nature, too afraid to stand up to the big-mining lobby and too afraid to say no to the destruction of our native forests, including the bulldozing of koala habitat, the Prime Minister is giving a nod and a wink to Gina Rinehart and the fossil fuel industry to keep going as they are. Mother Nature can't handle this. Our environment cannot cope with the continued destruction of our forests. Our wildlife cannot continue to survive as their homes and habitat are destroyed.

It is an international disgrace that Australia's koala, our most beloved and iconic animal, is on the brink of extinction because this government and successive governments have failed to protect its homes. The only koalas that are going to be left in Australia are the ones that are in zoos. That's what we face right now. It is an international disgrace. Because of successive governments, there are only a few hundred of the world's fastest parrot, the swift parrot, left in the wild, yet this government and the Peter Dutton alternative government want to keep logging their habitat.

The Greens are passionate about this issue because we can see this destruction before our very eyes, and we know that millions of Australians want to see the logging of our ancient forests stopped, before the forests are all gone. Every opinion poll published in recent years, time and time again, has shown that Australians want our native forests protected. They love our forests. They are proud of our forests. They want homes for our wildlife—our birds and animals. So my plea to the government today is: use your power; work with the Senate to protect our forests, which are the homes of our animals, the habitat of our native species. Do something good for nature. Do something good; don't just roll over at the whim of Gina Rinehart and the mining lobby. Don't just roll over and say: 'Oh, it's all too hard. We'll get back to it some day down the track.' We don't have some day down the track! We are running out of time. The chainsaws are running. The bulldozers are going. Our climate is getting worse—hotter, drier, more extreme. We are running out of time.

There are the numbers in this chamber to protect our forests and protect our environment if the Labor government has the guts to do it. We can protect the koala from going extinct. We can protect our native species. We can stop illegal land clearing. We can stop making the climate crisis worse by supercharging pollution and allowing coal and gas companies to keep expanding, day after day after day. If we work collectively we can stop this destruction. The government have to use their power. What is the point of being in government if you're just going to roll over every time somebody says 'boo'. What is the point of being in government if, instead of listening to the community, instead of listening to the voters, you're only doing the bidding of the big corporations and the big polluters? Why do they have a say in what laws are needed to protect nature? Their whole business model is built on destroying nature. Why would you take their advice? What is the point of being in government if, every time the road gets hard, you go to water?

Stop being a disappointment. You have the power to change things, to make things better, to deliver a positive outcome for the environment. You don't have to roll over to the mining lobby and Gina Rinehart. You don't have to do the dirty work of Mr Peter Dutton. He's not in government; you are. Use your power for good, save the koala, protect our forests and stop making pollution worse. It's pretty simple. You've got the numbers in this place to do it; don't pretend otherwise. Let's get it done.