Harry Jenkins (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In speaking to this report, Sustainability for survival: creating a climate for change: inquiry into a sustainability charter, I wish to make some general comments as well as to support the comments of the Chair of the Standing Committee on Environment and Heritage. On 8 October 1987 I was appointed to the House environment committee and it has been my good fortune to serve nearly 20 years on the committee in its various guises. It is the longest standing portfolio committee of the House. If we look back over its history, we see it has done a lot of very good work. It has been involved in all environmental debates over that period since its inception. It has been an agent to bring parliament to the community. It has always had great cooperation from those people in the community that have had a real interest in the environment.

I can remember only one inquiry of this committee that was in any way controversial. That was not because it concerned the environment; that was because we had Arts and Sport under the banner of the committee’s portfolio and there was a discussion about decisions made on whiteboards. In everything else we have had a bipartisan way of going forward and the work of the committee in the 41st Parliament has seen exactly the same situation. The honourable member for Moore, through his leadership, encouragement and ability to allow us to discuss things, has allowed all committee members to be able to make a contribution to the work of the committee. The professional secretariat staff that we have now has worked at the same level that I have witnessed over the last 20 years. The committee has always been well served by those who have assisted it in its endeavours.

This report is really about the way forward, and I hope that those opposite do not think I am being overly political in saying that it is really a little bit disappointing that, while the committee has moved forward from its last body of work—the sustainable cities inquiry—it has not had a government response to that report, which was tabled over two years ago. But the important thing is that the committee has decided to continue to go forward. The way in which we have had the cooperation of the people in the community who have come before the committee and given us their ideas is an indication that the committee’s work is relevant to what Australians see as being important in our challenge to achieve sustainability in a world bedevilled by environmental problems, the greatest challenge of which is, of course, climate change.

The other thing that the House environment committee has been able to show through its work is that you do not have to be wedded just to your portfolio area. Many of the problems that confront us as a nation need a holistic approach. If you look at the items that we believe should be in the scope of the charter you will see that they are, of course, environmental in nature and include the built environment, water, energy and our ecological footprint. They then go to the way that the environment can meet the way that people operate, and this includes transport, economics and waste, and then we go to social equity, health, community engagement and education.

Those last two things are very important because, if government is not engaged with people and if government does not have an understanding of a person’s wellbeing, our policies are not worth while. So in this proposed sustainability charter we very much see that the way forward is to bring people with us. That is why the committee unanimously agreed that the charter should be aspirational in nature and that it should be in simple language that does not confuse people but brings them forward with us. But we stress that, underpinning that, there must be definite targets that will enable government, industry and others to know that we are proceeding, that we are going forward.

I hope that we might get a response to the sustainable cities inquiry, but I urge government to respond to both inquiries at the same time. It is urgent that we go forward. This matter will require action from all spheres of government, plus the community and industry. We have to make the decision to embrace a sustainability charter, as recommended by the committee, so that it will enable us as a nation to go forward in environmental matters. (Time expired)

See this speech in context