Ash Ambihaipahar (Barton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this motion moved by the wonderful member for Griffith. It's a very important motion for my community in Barton as well. It outlines the Albanese government's commitment to both recognising and responding to climate change. Recognising and responding are two separate things. The first, recognition, was delivered by the Labor Party way back in 2007 when the wonderful Kevin Rudd—Kevin 07—called climate change 'the great moral challenge of our generation' and warned that delaying action would be 'reckless and irresponsible'. It's now 2025, and the National and Liberal parties still can't get their head around it at all. Climate change is real, and we're feeling the impacts right now: more floods, more fires, more extreme heat and more violent storms. This is the reality for communities across Australia, yet the opposition are still in denial. Maybe they're too busy fighting themselves in some back room of parliament to step outside and actually see it. Whatever it is, they have their heads in the sand and we don't have time to wait for the tide to come in. As Rudd said, that would be reckless and irresponsible, and we must act now.

The government accepts the Climate Change Authority's recently published national climate risk assessment. Every action we take today towards our climate goal of net zero by 2050 can help avoid the worst impacts on Australians. Following the authority's advice, we've set an emissions reduction target of between 62 and 70 per cent by 2035. And emissions are coming down. Our most recent data shows that emissions fell by 6.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in the year to March 2025. This is a result of our work in slashing waiting times for renewable projects, incentivising home batteries and expanding clean fuel use. This is just the beginning, and we know there is much more work to be done. Our biggest sources of emissions are electricity, transport and industry, and we have a plan for each of them.

On electricity, we are upgrading our energy systems so that we can deliver more renewable energy from remote areas to our cities and towns. We have already added over 18 gigawatts of wind and solar to the grid by undertaking this task. These upgrades also help balance the variability of renewables, ensuring homes have reliable, clean power, no matter the weather. On industry, we've announced a new net zero stream in the National Reconstruction Fund. The $5 billion in this particular fund will help large industry decarbonise whilst helping renewable and low-emission manufacturers scale up.

On transport, we've expanded the use of electric vehicles, brought in a new vehicle efficiency standard and invested in more kerbside charging facilities. This is all on top of the work regular Australians are already doing, because they understand climate change and its risks as well. Around 1,000 batteries are being installed across the country every day, with home solar panel uptake being quite literally through the roof. So, as the motion says, the government is delivering on its promises, which Australians voted for this year, to act on climate change. Whether the opposition will leave the climate wars in the past—well, I'm not holding my breath.

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