Roger Price (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am rather pleased to follow the honourable member for Page. Indeed, she is correct: she is a very influential member of the government, even though a backbencher; she is always harassing our ministers and does so very effectively! I am sure that her intervention, along with that of others, has contributed to the government taking this monumental step in relation to the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2009 [No. 2] and related bills.

I wanted to start my speech with some history. I am sure people remember that in the mid-eighties a scientist told us we had a real problem with the ozone layer; in fact, there was a hole developing in the ozone layer and it was increasing quite rapidly, as ozone was depleted. I think it is fair to say that ordinary people understood that this was serious—that we were doing permanent, irreversible damage to our planet and we had to do something. I am pleased that substances like the refrigeration gas CFC, which was the cause of the depletion of the ozone layer, were banned. In 1989, Australia ratified the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. No-one suggested we should put an umbrella over the hole, or a shadecloth over the hole, or try to patch up the ozone layer! As individual citizens and as countries we had to take action to reverse this terrible thing, and indeed we did.

The Montreal protocol is widely considered as the most successful international environmental protection agreement. Its achievement of universal ratification in September this year makes it the first international environment treaty to have universal participation. The most recent scientific evaluation of the effects of the Montreal protocol, which took place in 2006, states:

The Montreal Protocol is working: There is clear evidence of a decrease in the atmospheric burden of ozone-depleting substances and some early signs of stratospheric ozone recovery.

Isn’t that fantastic news? Isn’t it fantastic news that, with a problem that is so debilitating and that affects everyone, scientists report on it, ordinary people understand it, governments take action and we implement the changes? These were not easy changes to make but, with the goodwill and support of business and ordinary citizens, we have made a difference. We have started to reverse the terrible damage that we caused. I applaud all Australians—ordinary Australians, the business community and the industries that were directly involved in generating this gas and that had to move away from its use—for what we have been able to achieve by working together. An air-conditioning business, Tempest, in my own electorate had to stop using this gas. They did it and I congratulate the management and their workers for doing that.

We are at the same point with climate change. Ordinary people understand—as the member for Page was outlining—that something is going on with the climate. We have glaciers melting. We face the real prospect of glaciers melting in Greenland, Alaska and the Himalayas because of climate change, and this will cause catastrophic problems. We know that Australia is a ‘funny’ continent in that we can have bushfires in one part of the country, drought in another and floods somewhere else. But, even so, everyone understands that something fundamental has happened with the climate. If you talk to farmers they understand that. They absolutely understand that something fundamental has happened with climate change.

I do not normally quote Senator Heffernan, let alone praise him, but to give him his due he has made some radical suggestions in response, in his words, ‘to whatever it is that is happening’—because he acknowledges that it is. He says that we have to do something; maybe move agriculture to the north. I do not dismiss his ideas. I think he is making a very serious contribution. Senator Heffernan acknowledges that we have to do something. If I talk to the school children and the parents in my electorate, they tell me that they are concerned about what is happening with our climate, and they want us to do something about it. That is why I believe in the Rudd government taking action; it is doing something.

Throughout this debate there have been a number of distractions from the main issue. These are: our targets are too much or too little, we are moving too quickly or too slowly, we are providing too much compensation to emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries or we are not providing enough compensation to emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries. Should we be taking action before Copenhagen or should we wait and see what other nations do? Should we commit to a CPRS while India and China continue to pollute unabated? These are not silly questions and they are entitled to be asked in this forum but, on the matter of this debate, they are no more than distractions.

What might confuse many ordinary Australians about the CPRS—that is, the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme—is that it is not a debate about the environment. Sure, there are environmental benefits if we proceed with the scheme and environmental risks if we do not, but the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is a debate about the most significant change to our economy since World War II. Those who are opposed to the introduction of a CPRS rely on a number of untruths to argue their point. For starters, they claim that Australia is going it alone on emissions trading and in a race to do it. That is simply not true. Similar schemes are already operating in 27 European countries. In the United States and Canada, 27 states and provinces are introducing emissions trading to reduce carbon pollution, as is New Zealand. Although there are similar schemes operating throughout the world, I still believe that our position is one of leadership and that it is something we should not shy away from. Australia has too much to lose if it fails to secure emissions trading reductions on a global level.

Climate change is projected to increase the severity and the frequency of many natural disasters such as bushfires, cyclones, hail storms and floods. Projections for Australia include increases in the frequency of heatwaves; increases in the frequency and length of drought conditions, especially in the south-west; increased hail risk over the south-east coastal areas; increases in the proportion of intense tropical cyclones; and a substantial increase in fire-weather risk in south-east Australia. These projections are all from the CSIRO and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Australia’s World Heritage properties report, released in August this year, highlighted the vulnerability of Australia’s natural icons and tourist destinations to climate change. These include the Great Barrier Reef, the wet tropics of North Queensland, Kakadu National Park and the Tasmanian wilderness. The Great Barrier Reef alone attracts around two million tourists each year. It supports tourism across the region, generating over $4.9 billion and employment for around 60,000 people.

If we are going to convince other nations to move in this direction, we have to do so from a position of leadership, from a position where we have already acted. Yvo De Boer, the chief executive of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald on 6 August 2009 as saying:

I think it helps Australia’s credibility to say this is the target Australia is willing to commit to and this is how we are going to achieve it—that will be good for the country’s credibility.

Even the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Turnbull, used to believe in Australia leading the way on climate change.

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