David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Is anyone else feeling like we've just given up on the climate? It's like everyone has run out of steam, and we don't have the energy to care anymore. Scientists have raised every flag they possibly can, warned us time and time again, and yet I feel like energy and ambition for climate action is fading. I know many people are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. I know there are conflicts around the globe causing so much heartache and pain. I know the systematic spread of disinformation by fossil fuel companies makes it exhausting to have these conversations over and over again. But please don't give up on the climate, because our climate connects all of us. It keeps us safe. This is about protecting the people and places we love and the things that make us who we are. This is about protecting ourselves, at the end of the day. Future generations will judge us on our actions today, and it is up to us, as leaders, to have the courage to make hard decisions that are right for our future.

But we're not seeing courage from the government. In fact, approving three coalmine expansions last week shows the opposite. It shows a weakness and an unwillingness to stand up to vested interests and protect young Australians from a future shaped by climate change. So I'm asking you all to please keep showing up. Keep raising the need for climate action with your elected representatives. Demand real change so we don't sleepwalk into a future that we will all regret. And I'll be right there with you, raising your voice in this chamber.

We've seen time and time again the Labor government talk about the transition, talk about the great things that they are doing when it comes to investing in renewables, in industries of the future. And, to their credit, they have a range of policies in that area, which I welcome—and I spoke earlier about the Future Made in Australia. But, at the same time, they're in here doing the bidding of Woodside, Santos and Chevron, companies with business models built upon not taking climate action. That is totally negligent in the face of what we know—and not just in the face of what we know but in the face of what we are seeing around the world, with record temperatures being set and with weather that climate scientists are looking at in horror.

I introduced a bill to this place that would legislate a duty of care to young people and future generations. The Liberals, the Nationals and the Labor Party don't like it. They don't think that it should proceed, despite the Labor Party's criticism of the former government when the latter argued that they don't have a duty of care to young people or to future generations.

If we're not here to make decisions that are good for young people, what are we here for? What are we doing if we're not in here actually taking into account how this will affect young Australians and even unborn Australians—future generations? What are our decisions doing for them? It's incredibly disappointing to hear all the rhetoric from the Labor government and yet, when it comes to meaningful reform on climate and the environment, see them doing the bare minimum and saying, 'Well, it's better than the coalition.' That bar is so low you could step over it, no jumping required. It's no longer an excuse, and we're going to see Australians say: 'We want elected representatives who will take this seriously and who will actually act in the best interests of Australians now and Australians in the future.'