Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Many of us grew up spending Sunday nights tuned to David Attenborough and learning about the world around us. David Attenborough has delivered another message to all of us. He has said overnight that the collapse of civilisation and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon, unless we get global warming under control. This is hot on the heels of the world's scientists telling us that to have any chance of getting global warming under control we need to shut down two-thirds of the world's coal-fired power stations by 2030. It's a point that primary and high school students get, and they took to the streets around the country last week to say that they want action from this government on global warming, because otherwise it is their future that is at stake. But it is a message this government seems absolutely unable to process.

Not only is this government oblivious and making global warming worse; but they are now talking about putting public money that should be going to schools and hospitals into bankrolling coal-fired powers stations, so desperate are they to make global warming worse. They want to do it because they know a change of government is on the way. They want to funnel public money out the door over Christmas to bankroll new or existing coal-fired power stations.

We've got a bill in this parliament to stop it. I thank Labor for their support for that bill. I thank my colleagues on the cross bench for this financially and environmentally responsible measure. If the government had any sense they would go back to the drawing board and stop putting money into coal-fired power stations.