Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to talk about emissions reduction in agriculture. We know that the Liberals have been playing politics with the planet and holding back on climate action for years, but this week has been a reminder that there's a group in this place who are even worse: the Nationals. The rest of the world is gunning for net zero, and these guys are playing around the edges, blaming the regions. The Morrison-Joyce government has once again left Australia lagging behind. The Nationals pretend that this is somehow a choice between saving the planet and protecting the livelihoods of Australians in rural and regional areas. That is a complete and utter fallacy. Action on climate change is good for jobs and it is good for our regions.

The agriculture sector in rural and regional Australia is miles ahead of the Liberals and light years ahead of the Nationals. Industry groups have already pledged to meet the target. Meat & Livestock Australia set an ambitious target for net zero emissions by 2030, and they did this in 2017. In 2020, the National Farmers Federation called for net zero by 2050, and that was well over a year ago, in August. In February 2021 GrainGrowers called for a 2050 deadline and a grain-specific emissions reduction target by 2030. Their position is clear:

The industry has and will continue to adapt practices, systems and businesses to futureproof the sector, enabling farmers to operate sustainably and prosper in a changing climate.

This is totally at odds with what the Nationals have been telling us. They are saying that the regions are going to go to the dogs over any sort of climate action. This is rubbish. This is absolute fallacy. Some of the people who are working hardest on climate change are people in the regions.