Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to oppose the amendment put forward by the opposition and to support the bills proper that have been put by the Labor government to finally take action on climate change. It is of no surprise that the opposition have sought this amendment to push back the introduction of any action on climate change. We have heard a number of members on the other side of this chamber give their reasons why they oppose the action on climate change and these bills of the government. We have had members who state that they believe in climate change but then at the same time say that they do not believe human activity is contributing to greenhouse gases at all. In other words, they believe that there should be no action because they do not believe in the science. There are those who say it is not the right time because of the global economic circumstances or, as we heard from the member for Berowra, it is not the right time because they think that we are acting before other countries, ignoring all of the information and evidence out there that many, many countries—89 countries, in fact—have actually signed up to taking action and seeking to achieve the same targets that this government is seeking to achieve.

Then, of course, there are those who actually support what the government is doing. Those on the other side who support what the government is doing have chosen not to speak on these bills. I quote the following:

Those of us who do not believe the CSIRO is part of an international Green conspiracy to undermine Western civilisation or do not believe that leading scientists like Will Steffen are subversives should not be afraid to speak out, and loudly, on behalf of our scientists and our science. We must not allow ourselves to be deluded on this issue.

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Now let me just say this to you: The idea that our country, this great country of ours, can sail through a 3, 4 or 5 or more degrees rise in temperature this century with our prosperity and freedom, let alone the Great Barrier Reef, intact is very naïve. So this is a big issue. So in the storm of this debate about carbon tax and direct action and what the right approach to climate change should be, do not fall into the trap of abandoning the science. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that what Lord Monckton says or what some website says is superior to what our leading scientists or leading universities would say.

Those are not my words; they are the words of the member for Wentworth. He said those words in a speech at the Inaugural Virginia Chadwick Memorial Foundation Lecture in Sydney on 21 July 2011. I also quote the member for Wentworth in National Press Gallery Questions and Answers on 3 August 2011:

I do think that there has been a war on science to some extent, an attack on climate scientists … So, it’s common sense, you’ve got to take the science seriously and I do.

I welcome the words of the member for Wentworth. There is one member on the other side who actually gets the importance of this action, who actually understands the importance of these bills. It is unfortunate, however, that when the time came this afternoon to stand up and have the conviction of his own words, his own beliefs, that member sat there quietly, opposing the bills.

We have heard much from the other side about the impact of these bills. We have heard about the big tax and the impact on households come 1 July 2012. We have heard from the government of the real impact: a 0.7 per cent increase on GDP. We have heard that this government through these bills will provide assistance to households. If we had not come into government, on 1 July 2012 there would be a tax introduced, but it would be a 1.5 per cent tax on business that would flow through in full to consumers and to households with no assistance, and the leader who would be introducing this 1.5 per cent tax has said previously, 'I would introduce this tax over my dead body.' It would be the opposition's paid parental leave scheme, a tax of 1.5 per cent with no assistance given, compared to what this government is introducing, which is a 0.7 per cent CPI increase to finally address climate change. (Time expired)

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