Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, the coalition has ruled out paying compensation to other nations for the effects of climate change. Will the Albanese government also rule out signing Australia up to compensating other countries as part of the deal being negotiated at COP 27 in Egypt?

Hon. Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Members on my left. The question was asked in silence. Order! The Minister for Cyber Security! The member for Moreton! The Prime Minister will be heard in silence.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One of the things I won't do, in front of a boom mic, is make a joke about our island neighbours drowning. That's one of the things that I won't do! I won't do that. And I won't do that because I want to build good relations with our Pacific neighbours. One of the things that we provided for in the budget is there for all to see—and if the Leader of the Opposition wants to have a look at the budget papers, we've made it very clear that one of the things we will do is provide support for our Pacific island neighbours for infrastructure that they need to be dealing with because of the threat that countries like Tuvalu and Kiribati are experiencing.

One of the things that we saw during the election campaign was Solomon Islands front and centre of the campaign. The fact is that Australia, unfortunately, has stepped back and that other nations, with the strategic competition that's occurring in our region, have stepped in. One of the things we need to be very conscious of is that climate change is indeed a national security issue. That is something that is recognised by the United States and it's something that is recognised by our other partners and, indeed, by our allies. It's something that was recognised in the Quad leaders meeting.

The first thing I did as Prime Minister was get on a plane and visit Tokyo to meet with Prime Minister Modi, Prime Minister Kishida and President Biden. There, we spoke about the responsibility that we have—

Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Answer the question!

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Deakin will cease interjecting.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

as leaders of developed nations to engage in our region—in South-East Asia and in the Indo-Pacific. So what we won't be doing is trying to score a cheap domestic political point and, at the same time—

Opposition members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Members on my left.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

and at the same time actually set back our international relations. You can't say that you care about strategic competition in the region whilst you continue with this sort of position. No wonder that Senator Wong has had to work so hard to restore Australia's standing in our region.

Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Higgins, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. As the COP 27 climate change conference gathers, what action is the Albanese government taking on climate change?

Hon. Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The House will come to order. The member was heard in silence and the Prime Minister will be heard in silence.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the best-ever member for Higgins for her question! I'll say this: the COP 27, the UN Climate Change Conference, has begun at Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt, and it will sit for the coming fortnight. It sits in a context where it comes after the hottest decade on record. Indeed, the past eight years are on track to be the eight warmest on record. Think about that. Every one of the eight hottest years on record were in the last eight years—the last eight years!

What we've seen of course is not just the impact of this with the devastating floods in places like Pakistan; we don't actually have to look offshore—we can look here at the increased number of extreme weather events and the increase in the severity of them. Just before question time I was speaking to the member for Riverina about Forbes in his electorate, which we visited just a couple of weeks ago. We visited as the floodwaters were going down. They went up again, and fortunately for the people of Forbes, who've done it so tough, they've gone down again. Just a week ago, with the New South Wales Premier, I visited Lismore, where we're actually having to buy homes to move people out of the floodplain because they do not feel safe in those communities. We've had the devastating bushfires, including in areas of rainforest that had never burnt before, ever. The Secretary-General of the UN said last night that the science is clear that any hope of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees means achieving global net zero emissions by 2050. But that 1.5-degree goal is on life support, and the machines are rattling. This parliament—the major parties—apparently are all agreed on net zero by 2050, except for the rhetoric, and you wouldn't know it if you followed the statements that are aimed.

So, our government is acting. One of our first acts was to sign up to our changed nationally determined contribution of 43 per cent by 2030. We've enshrined in law net zero by 2050, and we're investing in renewable energy. Climate change is a challenge for our generation, but it's also a challenge that we need to work with the rest of the world on.

Hon. Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! There is far too much noise on my right, and my left. I give the call to the member for Moncrieff.