Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Fremantle for bringing this very important matter before the House. Over the past decade there has been extensive debate and differences of opinion about global warming and climate change. If the predictions by the majority of climate scientists are correct, limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Centigrade has become a race against time, and the consequences of not doing so would be catastrophic. Of similar urgency but, regrettably, with much less public focus has been the degradation of global biodiversity and the loss of so much flora and fauna.

Of course, global warming and biodiversity loss are intricately linked and have common factors. Both have a direct correlation to population growth and rising gross domestic product. In simple terms, as populations increase and consumption increases, the earth's environment is increasingly depleted. Land clearing, air and water pollution and climate change all contribute to environmental demise and biodiversity loss.

It is true that the natural environment is incredibly resilient. We have seen how quickly the environment can bounce back from droughts, floods and fires once conditions normalise. However, when flora and fauna are completely lost—when they become extinct—there is no bounce back. When regeneration does not occur, other animal and plant species are also at risk because the natural food chain has been disrupted. That ultimately has implications for the future of humanity.

That is why the Australia state of the environment 2021 report, which highlights the extent of environmental decline in Australia, was so important. This is not the first report, however, that has drawn attention to Australia's biodiversity loss and its poor environmental record. Last year, the Prime Minister's Environmentalist of the Year for 2003, John Wamsley, released an excellent research paper on species extinction in Australia. John's calculations show that in 2021 17.6 per cent of Australian species were threatened or lost, and the number was expected to double to 35.2 per cent by the year 2041. That's in 20 years time. Those figures alone should worry each and every one of us in this place.

I noticed, however, how quickly the sectors who stand to gain the most by their environmental recklessness were out discrediting the State of the environment 2021 report, and I noticed some members opposite doing the same. In other words: 'If the report doesn't suit our own agenda, we'll do what we can to discredit it in order that we can continue to cause the damage that has been caused for so long.' According to that 2021 report, Australia has the third largest cumulative loss of soil organic carbon in the world, behind only China and the USA. At least 19 Australian ecosystems are showing signs of collapse or near collapse. The destruction of Indigenous heritage continues at an unacceptable rate, against the wishes of traditional custodians, and since 2016, 202 animal and plant species have been listed as threatened and matters of national environmental significance.

Importantly, the report found that improving the environment required national leadership, integrated management between federal, state and territory laws, and better monitoring and reporting. I can recall how, when some EPBC legislation went through the last parliament, the last coalition government was quick to hand responsibility back to the states, and offload responsibility from itself. The truth of the matter is that all three levels of government and the community more broadly have to work together if we're ever going to make the difference that is required. If we don't, it won't be only countries overseas that will pay the price—we here in Australia will as well. Our own ecosystems and our own productivity will diminish as a result of that.

The Samuel review, I believe, was an excellent review which drew attention to all of this. I'm pleased to see that Minister Plibersek has brought a new focus to the government's responsibilities when it comes to the environment, and I welcome the Albanese government giving the environment the priority it deserves.

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