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

I rise to contribute to this debate on this very important piece of legislation, the Ending Native Forest Logging Bill 2023. I associate myself with the comments already made by my Greens colleague Senator Nick McKim.

It is 2024. We are facing a biodiversity crisis across the world. The climate is getting worse and worse, there's extreme weather, there's the rising temperature of our oceans and there's the lack of protection of our native animals and plant species. And yet we have laws in this country that allow the continued destruction—the bulldozing, the logging—of our native and ancient forests. It is just appalling that, despite all of the smarts in the world, Australia continues to log our native forests and destroy our ancient woodlands. It's time this ended. If we don't end it now, there won't be much left.

We have iconic species like the koala on the brink of the extinction and, rather than protecting their homes, we have laws in this country that allow the loggers to go in and chop down their homes in our native forests. Australians are disgusted that this happens. They have been disgusted for a number of years—decades. Every time the community is asked whether native forest logging should continue, overwhelmingly the majority of Australians say, 'No. Protect what is there, save it for the future and ensure that it's there for the next generation.'

It's important to save our forests not just because they are part of our natural history and heritage, because they are the homes of our native species and because they help create the ecosystems that underpin all life; they are crucial in our battle against climate change. They are the lungs of the planet. We need our ancient forests and our native forests there to ensure that we can stop the worst of climate change.

Our governments around the country, in states like Tasmania and New South Wales, that continue to allow the logging of native forests in their jurisdictions are doing so at the cost of Australian taxpayers, so, not only is this costing nature, costing climate action and making it harder and harder for us to arrest the dangers of global warming and stop the spiralling, out-of-control extinction of native species like the swift parrot, the greater glider and the koala; it's actually being done at the expense of the economy and at the expense of taxpayer money. It is mind-boggling that any government in 2024 could continue to argue that taxpayers' money should be able to be spent propping up an industry that destroys native forests. It is time that this ended.

This bill is timely because we are in the midst of a debate in this place about Australia's failing environmental laws. The government have put forward an environmental protection agency, but they have no laws to protect nature, no laws to protect our native forests from the bulldozers and the chainsaws and no laws to protect koalas from having their homes logged and destroyed, so what will this environmental protection agency do? It has nothing to implement. It has no laws to oversee that actually look after nature and protect our forests, our wildlife and our woodlands. It will be a missed opportunity if we don't do something now. The government want a cop on the beat for our environment, but they've given the cop no laws to implement. We need to fix that, and one of the key things we can do to fix that is pass this bill today.

The community is shocked at knowing there's a loophole in Australian law that allows—encourages, funds—the destruction of our native forests rather than protecting them. And in whose hands is the power to stop this? This chamber's—right now, today. This is a challenge to both sides. The Labor Party and the coalition talk a big game on nature, talk a big game on industry, talk a big game on futureproofing, but they've done nothing to futureproof the sustainability of our environment, our land, our clean air and clean water while they continue to allow this destruction of our native forests.

While we're debating this issue in the chamber right now, on the other side of the building the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, is on stage having a nice chitchat with the head of the Minerals Council about how to make laws more friendly for the big mining corporations rather than fixing the laws to save our native forests and protect our koalas. That's the priority of this government. The Greens are in here fighting for our forests, and the environment minister is on the other side of the building having a nice chitchat with the mining lobby.

Australians are so disappointed in this government. Your Prime Minister promised to fix Australia's broken environment laws and to do something to make sure stronger laws would be implemented. And you've caved, you've capitulated, you've gone to water because Gina Rinehart wants to keep digging, bulldozing and polluting. You've gone to water because the loggers want to keep the chainsaws going, the bulldozers going and the trees falling. Rather than protecting the environment, the environment minister is hanging out with the Minerals Council. That says everything about the priorities of this government.

Well, the Greens will fight for this. We will take this right through to the election and we will make sure every voter knows that if you care about the environment, if you want to stop the climate crisis, if you want to stop the logging and stop the pollution there's only one option, and you've got to vote Greens. The choice is crystal clear. You can't keep voting for this mob or that mob if you want to save the planet. They're not up to it. They're chicken scared. They've got no spine, and they can't be trusted.