Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I do hope that the opposition may be able to lift themselves from the spirit of partisanship, lift themselves from the kind of politicking which too often disfigures debate in this parliament, and try to look fairly and squarely at the issues facing our country. As an example of how sensible and rational and realistic and balanced this report is, let me read what it says about climate change:

Some economic effects may be beneficial — where regions become warmer or wetter this may allow for increased agricultural output — while others may be harmful. For example, lower rainfall may reduce crop yields, or transport infrastructure (such as roads, ports and rail networks) may become more susceptible to damage from extreme weather events.

So do justice to this report. Do justice to the expertise of the Treasury officials who have put it together. If you read on, the report talks about the way forward on climate change.

We have a strong and effective policy to deal with climate change. It involves establishing an emissions reduction fund that will deliver us better soils, more trees, smarter technology. As a result of these policies, we will achieve a 12 per cent reduction by 2020 on 2005 emissions levels. This is not just a 12 per cent reduction per head; it is a 30 per cent reduction. It is a 30 per cent reduction on 2005 levels on a per capita basis. This is a remarkably strong performance. We are not a government that runs around habitually blowing our trumpet, but when it comes to climate change, when it comes to actually reducing emissions, this country's record, under the policies of this government, will be absolutely amongst the best in the world.

See this speech in context