Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

He should. We don't pretend to be godlike on this side of the House. We don't think we can stand in the way of climate change. I think that time has passed. All the scientific evidence is that climate change is upon us. It's not something in the future; it's upon us now. We need to manage its impact as best we can. Climate change is affecting farmers right now. You talk to farmers. They know these changes are not just part of the cyclical weather patterns that we see from season to season. These are permanent changes to the climate. The climate in Australia is getter drier and it's getter hotter. You talk to firefighters who go out every day during summer to fight blazes, and they'll tell you: the fires are hotter and more frequent than they used to be. And the firefighters are not going out just in summer anymore; they're going out all through the year. So we need to address climate change. It's not some sort of voodoo science, some sort of conspiracy of the Left against those on the Right; it's a scientific fact. Ninety-seven or 98 per cent of climate scientists in the world agree. It is real. You need to face up to the fact that climate change is real. It's impacting farmers and it's impacting agriculture in this country, and, unless we face up to this reality, we're going to be behind the eight ball every day of the week. I wanted to get to my feet to briefly discuss that, because I think this second reading amendment is very important in addressing this point.

There was a piece in The Conversation last year titled 'Australian farmers are adapting to climate change'. This is true. We on this side of the House have had briefings from farmers who want policymakers in this place to get serious about climate change as it pertains to agricultural policy. They don't see this as some sort of inner-city issue; they know that climate change is affecting them on the land. Rising temperatures caused global wheat yields to drop by around 5.5 per cent between 1980 and 2008, and the effects in Australia have been larger, as a result of major changes in rain patterns. Talk to farmers in New South Wales and Queensland. It's winter. The paddocks are normally green this time of year. There's dust—dust in the middle of winter! You can't bury your head in the sand on this issue. You can't say that you care about farmers, that you care about the impacts of and addressing drought, unless you're serious about addressing climate change. They go hand in hand.

Labor does support the bill. We think it needs to go further. I think this government's most, not famous, but most well-known contribution to agriculture policy to date has been the release of the member for New England's book, Weatherboard and Iron. That's perhaps what most people would associate with agriculture policy from this government. Certainly the white paper on agriculture came and went with nary a whisper. I think they were too embarrassed by that document. On that note I will conclude. I thank the House.

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