Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister continues to fail this country on climate policy. He continues to be misleading about meeting their inadequate Paris targets and the Kyoto target. This year our emissions will be only 0.3 per cent below 2000 levels, and in 2030, incredibly, they'll be only 4.7 per cent below 2000 levels. He was humiliated at the Pacific Island Forums over climate policy, and he played a wrecking role at the recent climate conference in Madrid. But you would think that after the recent bushfire crisis, which we're still right in, he would have had a conversion to taking action on climate policy. You'd think he'd recognise that the vast majority of Australians want Australia to actually take climate seriously. But, no. When Australia zigs, this Prime Minister zags. He has appointed the member for Hinkler to his cabinet as Minister of Resources and Water, possibly the only member of parliament more anti-action on climate change than Senator Canavan. He's the member of parliament who is the most pro-nuclear power. He's the member of parliament who, when he was a minister, resigned due to Australia signing up to the Paris treaty, the last best hope for getting climate action around the world. This raises the question: is this government even nominally committed to Paris again? I think the answer is no. The Prime Minister is a disgrace on climate change. He intends to do nothing while Australia burns, and the point of Keith Pitt as the minister in cabinet further proves this.