Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I want to reflect on something very important to me. Seven years ago I stood here, in this same place, and delivered my first senator's statement. I spoke then of the devastating effects and impacts of plastics in our oceans. I didn't realise it at the time, but I was the first person in this building, in federal parliament, to give a speech on this issue. However, back then very few people were paying attention, especially in this place.

Oceans are the lifeblood of our world. Oceans are an important part of our identity and our character as a nation. Today we're at an incredible junction in history, one where we stand to lose so much of what we love if we don't act definitively right now. Our oceans are choking on a toxic tide of marine litter, which grows daily. It's estimated that there'll be more plastic than fish in our oceans by 2050. Dangerous microplastics with attached toxins are now being found in our food chain, especially seafood. Indeed, sadly, we've even found such particles in plankton, even in the Antarctic, the base of our food chain. That's why I have just introduced the Product Stewardship Amendment (Packaging and Plastics) Bill 2019 and established an inquiry, which is now receiving submissions.

I'd like to reflect that we have come a long way in seven years on this issue. The media, along with so many amazing advocates and champions for the marine environment, have played a critical role in raising education and awareness for action. In contrast, one thing is for sure: words are cheap. Just last week the Prime Minister told the UN:

… Australia is committed to leading urgent action to combat plastic pollution choking our oceans …

While I'm chuffed that he raised this issue as a priority in the UN—especially considering that no-one from the government has ever talked about this issue—to be honest, I haven't seen much leadership on this issue at all. In fact, on the same day, the Prime Minister gave a press conference, saying that when it comes to plastics recycling:

We don't want to see you know, taxes, and large levels of state intervention … What we want to see is industry leadership …

Well, exactly who's leading who here? What the Prime Minister means is that it's the same old 'business as usual'. Voluntary codes of conduct, or schemes, or plans, or policies, don't work. They are what have gotten this country into this mess in the first place. This is what the recycling industry themselves have been telling us. What stakeholders in the waste industry want most is leadership, with a capital L. The community wants clean, healthy waterways. They want our recycling crisis fixed.

The Greens have listened to this call. Our bill reflects what the European parliament has already 'led' on, with the phasing out of single-use plastics, and simply takes agreed-upon voluntary targets set by the industry and legislates them into law. They can talk the talk, but now they're going to have to walk the walk. I love the water; I love the ocean—and, believe me, there are plenty of times in this place when I'd rather be out there on my board than sitting here in parliament. But it's moments like these here today that make it worthwhile for me. Our bill is a culmination of seven years of hard work by many people, including two world-first Senate inquiries into this exact issue, marine plastics in our ocean. This bill will give this country, and all Australians, a chance to make lasting change.

In my last few minutes, I want to reflect on the fact that today, in the Sumac forests in the Tarkine in north-west Tasmania—a Tarkine wilderness that was recommended for national heritage listing, a Tarkine wilderness that remains unprotected, a Tarkine wilderness that faces daily threats from logging, from mining, from inappropriate development and, most recently, from wildfires brought on by dry lightning strikes in an increasingly dry environment, an environment caused by climate change—a number of protesters, who have been in this forest for the last three years and who have successfully stopped Forestry Tasmania from going and logging these forests, are likely to be forcibly evicted and arrested. Standing here today, I would like to say to those protesters how proud I am that they've stood up for our forests, for our biodiversity, for one of the last great wild places left on the planet. I'd like to thank them and to say how proud I and my party are of them. I know millions of people around this country would also be proud of them and what they've been able to achieve.

In a time of climate crisis and climate catastrophe, the best available science tells us that to have any chance of meeting our Paris targets, any chance of reducing our emissions—and I will say, many of the world's best scientists also say that our Paris targets aren't going to be enough to stop us from increasing climate breakdown—we need to protect our existing forests.

We need to plant new trees, indeed, if we're to have any chance. Yet in April next year forests protected under the Tasmanian Forest Agreement, between Labor and the Greens and the forestry workers and their unions, will be ripped up by the Liberal government in Tasmania. And 400,000 hectares of some of the most biodiverse, beautiful forests on this planet will be available for logging—an industry that has long had to be subsidised, that sells conflict timbers that nobody wants.

To those protesters in the Sumac forest today: I thank you on behalf of the Australian Greens—and I know on behalf of many other Australians—for the stance you've taken to protect those forests. I know this is a long way from being the end of this battle, and many more people will be joining you, in coming times, in Tasmania and all around this country to stand up for our forests, to stand up for our beautiful biodiversity and the wilderness values that make Tasmania and parts of Australia internationally famous and sought after. I applaud you, and I thank you for the stance that you have taken. Just know that right around the world people are rising. People are taking action to stand up for future generations.

We might not have the support of the big parties in a place like this, but what we have going for us is science. The best available science tells us that we must protect our forests if we're going to stop increasing extreme weather events, fires. Incidentally, the latest research out of Tasmania—a forum I attended recently—tells us that the areas burnt in the catastrophic fires of 2016 and 2019 were previously logged areas. The rainforests, the areas intact, had the best chance of surviving those fires. Yet these are the exact areas that are being targeted by stupid, ignorant politicians in my state who aren't listening to the science and who aren't listening to the community. They've got a shock in store for them as people rise up right around Tasmania and right around this country—indeed, right around the world—and say, 'Enough is enough. Business as usual is not an option.'

It's time to take real action on climate change. It's the time in history to be transitioning to renewable energy. It's the time in history to be protecting our biodiversity and our world-beating forests in Tasmania.