Trish Crossin (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the opposition’s motion to take note of Minister Wong’s answer to Senator Cash’s question. All I can say is: thank goodness we have daily newspapers delivered around Parliament House these days, because the opposition clearly would not know what questions to ask in question time otherwise. Their strategy is derived from newspaper headlines and articles.

Industry and business organisations such as the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees, the Property Council of Australia and the Australian Council of Trade Unions have been mentioned in today’s Financial Review as talking about climate change, as have AMP Capital, BT Financial Group and Colonial First State. There is only one thing that these organisations have in common with the Labor Party and not with the opposition, and that is that they are talking about climate change. The opposition have just come on board recently, if at all.

It is 12 months today since the Rudd Labor government was sworn in, and the opposition have had 15 positions on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme in 14 months. Only recently a coalition backbencher let the cat out of the bag and actually confessed that they had to pretend that they cared about climate change for electoral reasons. That is what we have got sitting across from us—pretenders, wanting to get on the program but not really quite committed about whether or not this is action that they should sign up to as a party. That is unlike the Rudd Labor government. We went to the election last year, 12 months ago to this very week, and we committed to reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions at least cost, adapting to the impacts of climate change that we cannot afford and helping to shape a global solution to this global problem.

It is a tough decision to make. It is going to be tough action, but the impact on the economy and the impact on this country would have been greater if somebody had not stepped up to the mark and committed to this as an election promise. That is exactly what we did and it is exactly why we are on this side of the chamber—because people around this country wanted a government that was going to start to tackle the issue of climate change, and that is what we have done.

We have spent 12 months preparing this country for the challenges of the future by tackling climate, by actually engaging in the world arena about where we will go with climate change, by signing up to the Kyoto protocol and by spending many, many months looking at what we will do in terms of our Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. We are committed to ensuring that our greenhouse gas emissions are reduced and are reduced at least cost. We want to ensure that we adapt to the impacts of climate change that we as a country cannot avoid. The opposition turned a blind eye to them, but we have stepped up to the mark and have realised it is something we need to tackle head-on.

We want to be in the tent, on the program, part of the world dialogue helping to shape a global solution. Unlike the opposition, we are not climate change sceptics. We are realists and we want to be there as a major player around the globe—as we have been under the leadership of Minister Wong—making sure we participate in that debate. We want to be part of the solution to this global problem, and that is one of the reasons why the Australian people put us on this side of the chamber—to ensure that we can continue this work.

We have set a target of 60 per cent cuts to emissions on 2000 levels by 2050. We have set a medium-term target by the end of 2008. We are going to expand the renewable energy target to 20 per cent. We are going to drive a clean energy revolution with policies such as establishing a $500 million Renewable Energy Fund, a $150 million Energy Innovation Fund and a $500 million National Clean Coal Initiative. These are all programs that we have committed to in the last 12 months.

As soon as Minister Wong returns from her next round of international discussions and dialogue, our white paper on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme will be produced, for each and every person in this country to have a look at and to continue their dialogue about us tackling climate change. Unlike the people opposite, who have come to the show late—they have decided to arrive at interval and get on the program at a very late moment—we are taking definitive steps. (Time expired)