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

As we know, the Albanese government has picked up where the Morrison government left off when it comes to gas and has committed $1.5 billion for a petrochemical facility on Darwin Harbour that will be used to process gas fractured in the Beetaloo. Northern Territory paediatricians are worried that their home stands to become the world's next cancer alley. Evidence out of the US shows that they're likely to see increases in stillbirths, pregnancy complications, cardiovascular disease, asthma presentations, childhood cancers and even premature deaths. The health system is worried. Doctors are worried. Nurses are worried. And they want to be heard. They feel like they're not being heard in the Northern Territory.

Twelve hundred doctors, nurses and health professionals have already signed an open letter asking the government to withdraw support for Middle Arm. Next Tuesday, doctors are coming to Canberra to tell the government that they need to prioritise the health of Australians rather than the health of gas companies. They're coming to Canberra because they're already struggling to deal with the health impacts of a changing climate. On Tuesday morning we'll be holding a rally out the front of Parliament House at 8 am. I invite all my colleagues here to come and speak with doctors, nurses and parents from the Northern Territory who want climate action and who want the government to withdraw support for fracking the Beetaloo basin so that they and their children and future generations can live safely in Darwin.