Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week the UNIPCC released a groundbreaking report on the dangers of climate change and the urgent need for the entire world to act in coalition to reduce climate change to only rising by 1½ degrees. What we saw from the government in their response was, quite frankly, embarrassing. The Minister for the Environment—the so-called minister, who has been in witness protection—was let out once to do an ABC interview on AM, and she got demolished. It was embarrassing. She refused to acknowledge the expertise and seriousness of the IPCC report. She got her units of measurement mixed up—she thought it was per cent rather than degrees Celsius. She repeated the falsehood that their inadequate 2030 target will be met. It will not be met, and the Minister for the Environment should not keep repeating that lie.

Worse was Senator Canavan's offensive and incompetent intervention last week, where he lectured businesses about going on their own scheme because this government had failed on climate change yet again. He called the Renewable Energy Target the worst policy in the world, which was a bit inconvenient, given the fact that the Prime Minister hides behind it any chance he can get, and the government's own reports find it has reduced electricity prices and driven massive investment in renewable energy. This government is a disgrace on climate change and is betraying future generations. (Time expired)