Matt Smith (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The world is changing. The delivery of energy is changing. Whether you like it or not, it's changing. It's happening now. Coal-fired plants are done. Twenty-four of the 28 that closed did so under the watch of those opposite—finished. We understand there have been cost-of-living pressures. It has been a rough six or seven years, particularly for my electorate of Leichhardt. COVID hurt us. The inflation that jumped out the bottle afterwards hurt us more. It was at seven but is now 3.8. We are delivering on cost-of-living relief. We understand what Australians need. We also understand the opportunities that net zero presents to us: manufacturing, mining, the entrance to the world stage as a global power, a superpower for renewable energy and a leader in our region. This is a national security issue.

The Pacific has never been more important, and those opposite sell them out every single day. It is disgraceful. The water shall not lap at the doors of our nearest neighbours, but let me tell you of the Torres Strait, Australia's most northern part, a beautiful place filled with beautiful people. Just this week the wakaid, or council of elders, from the island of Badu came down to talk to us about health. Uncle Bongo Sagigi, leader of the council of elders, spoke to me of climate change. When I visit Masig and Saibai, they tell me, 'We do not want to see our cemeteries inundated, the bodies of our children washed away, the bodies of the ancestors gone.' That is what net zero is about. That is the betrayal of Australia, of Australians. They deserve better. They deserve recognition. They do not deserve to have the water lapping at their doors. They do not deserve their cemeteries washed away. They do not deserve to mourn their children washed into the ocean.

When you do not accept net zero, when you turn your back on them, you turn your back on Australia. If you betray one Australian, you betray them all. It is disgraceful. It was 2015 the last time any executive from the LNP went to the Torres Strait. You do not ask or seek out their advice. You don't care. You leave them alone to fend for themselves. Minister Kearney has sat with the elders on Badu. She has sat with the elders on Horn. She has sat with the elders on Thursday Island. Minister Wilson travelled to Saibai, sat with the elders and understood. Labor has committed over $74 million in seawalls. We are protecting our people, and we are working with the reef, the guardianship and the climate change excellence centre based on Thursday Island to create resilience for a world that is changing, for a world that you guys have left behind. We are getting on with it. Those walls are being built right now. They should have been built 10 years ago when Masig started to be inundated. But where was the opposition? It was nowhere—hiding.

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