Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thanks, Madam Deputy President. I congratulate you on your appointment. 'People are relying on you. You've got to stay strong.' That's what my wife, Penny, said to me soon after this year's federal election when I was swept up in despair and worry for our country's future. It was great to be re-elected but the victory was bittersweet. Penny was right. But I know that many of us on the progressive side of politics felt scared after election night—scared for those still languishing on Manus Island and Nauru; scared for what another three years of coalition government will mean for people struggling on Newstart; scared for what will become of our environment and the more than 400 threatened animals and birds that are heading for extinction in Australia; scared for those of us in the LGBTIQ+ community as our rights seem to be yet again under attack by this government; scared because of the perpetual stalling on First Nations justice, truth telling and recognition of sovereignty; and deeply scared to sit with the knowledge that the world is in a climate emergency while we have a government that is addicted to coal and gas.

But we must be resilient to setbacks. We must take stock and stay optimistic and hopeful, even when things look tough. We must, in short, persist. I spend a lot of time imagining the future. I have hope and belief that by working together we can create a better world—and I know it's possible. One of my favourite quotes is from Arundhati Roy:

Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.

Imagine a world where nature is protected and valued for its own sake rather than being abused and destroyed for the sake of profits for big corporations. Imagine a future where we stand with First Nations peoples, a future where LGBTIQ+ people, people of colour and disabled people are equal and celebrated. Imagine a peaceful future where the climate emergency is over, where coal and gas and oil are fossils of the past, where people are positive and optimistic about a thriving, healthy and safe planet. This could be our future. It's the future we need to keep fighting for.

And first of all we must refuse to accept the corruption of our democracy. It's a system that works for big corporations rather than for the rest of us, and it holds us back from real progress on almost every issue. Corporate influence has a chokehold grip on both the Liberal and the Labor party. This is a system that allows big corporations to make huge donations to politicians, and they are absolutely getting something in return. Property developers, big banks, gambling corporations and mining giants have received billions of dollars in favourable policy decisions from Liberal and Labor governments. Just last week we saw yet another example of the revolving door of MPs-turned-lobbyists, with former defence minister Christopher Pyne's new job with consulting giant EY: to advise the firm on, yes, expanding its defence business. Instead of delivering policies that are in the interests of ordinary, hardworking people, the Liberal and Labor parties are deadset on making life easier for big business and for themselves.

The Greens will fight to ban political donations and to ban MPs and senior staff from accepting lobbying jobs. But, while we work for the structural change needed to overhaul our democracy, we cannot afford to miss a beat when it comes to the current agenda of the Morrison government. This government has made its priorities for the next few weeks of parliament clear: it will try and pass a massive $158 billion tax cut, most of which will benefit the wealthiest Australians, leaving far less for government services for the people who need them most. Yet just yesterday Prime Minister Morrison got an $11,000 pay rise—on the same day that penalty rates were cut for retail and hospitality workers. And just yesterday the government further attacked low-income workers by dropping the threshold for repaying student loans, forcing young people to be paying back loans when they're just starting out on low wages and dealing with the rising cost of living.

The Greens will fight against this handout for the richest amongst us, because everyone in the country deserves a fair go, not just those who already have so much. This government also says it will introduce a religious discrimination bill, which in all likelihood will do the exact opposite of what an antidiscrimination bill should do. Instead of acting to protect a group of people, it could give religious groups a licence to discriminate, making it easier to discriminate against someone on the basis of their sexuality or gender identity. Discrimination harms everyone, and all Australians should have protection under the law. Yes, people of faith should be free to practise their religion without fear of harm or prejudice. But in this case the government's proposed religious discrimination bill looks like it's going to be a Trojan Horse to enshrine more discrimination into law. The Greens will fight this attack on Australia's values of equality and fairness.

But the biggest fight ahead of us, not just in Australia but worldwide, is dealing with our climate emergency. Think about this for a moment. We are living in a climate emergency, and neither Labor nor the Liberal party is acting that way. What do you do in an emergency? You act immediately and you act boldly. You do everything you can to fix it, because it's serious.

For decades, climate scientists have been telling the world that human-made climate change is happening and we need to act. But we no longer need to just trust the data and the experts; we can see the climate crisis unfolding around us. Just look around Australia over the last six months: the hottest January on record in Australia; the hottest March on record; the hottest start to the year on record; south-eastern Australia suffering one of the worst droughts on record; two massive fish kills in the Murray-Darling Basin; and 23,000 flying foxes falling dead out of the sky one hot summer afternoon in Queensland. And, around the world this week, we have seen an intense heatwave engulfing Europe, with France recording an all-time high temperature of 45.9 degrees Celsius. This is scary, and it can be hard to see a way through when we have a government that is unwilling to take the action that's needed. But I and my colleagues will keep fighting every day for the values and policies that people elected us to uphold.

The Greens in the parliament are just one small part of a growing powerful movement for a healthy and safe future for all of us. All around Australia we see the amazing work of activists and change-makers: the student climate strikers standing up for their future and providing the leadership that parliamentarians should aspire to; the Extinction Rebellion group working to halt both our climate and our nature emergencies; the Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance tirelessly working to decolonise our society; all of our wonderful Greens volunteers who knocked on doors, made calls, stood at stalls and polling day booths, and spoke to thousands and thousands of people about the future they want for our country; and people young and old across the country, from the activists with their climate emergency banner, who I stopped and talked to this morning outside Parliament House, to the brave man who interjected after the Governor-General's speech this afternoon. These people are refusing to wait for politicians to catch up. It can be hard to not feel despair but, when I see our progressive movement in action, I know it is strong and growing, and our voices will be heard.

Sadly, we're unlikely to see much progressive legislation pass parliament in the coming months, but we Greens MPs will engage with the community and help empower people to take action. When people push from outside parliament, it forces change inside the parliament. Movements make change. In the next six years here, I look forward to continuing to work hand in hand with the community and my colleagues to tackle our climate crisis, to protect our natural world and to create a fairer, more equal society.