Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I take the interjection, Senator Macdonald: I note that you are extremely excited about the process around the Queensland state election. The question in this taking note motion was, I believe, Senator Boswell’s question to Senator Wong during question time about the carbon emissions trading scheme, the ETS. That was actually a replay of an urgency motion we had in this place earlier this week around the Queensland election. That, again, was trying to beat up issues, trying to scare the community. It reinforced the clear difference between us. On one side there is the understanding, the acceptance, of the challenge of the worldwide fear that we have about what is going to happen to our planet. We as a government accept that we have a responsibility and within that responsibility we have put forward legislation for consideration. We have known from the start that it did not matter about the science, it did not matter about the reason. On the other hand, there are people, particularly those in the opposition—not all, of course, because there are a wide range of views—who refuse to accept that there is a challenge. We have had a series of attacks from people on the opposition side who refuse to accept that there is a challenge for our community in which we have a responsibility to take part.

We continue through our legislative process and through the special fund that has been provided by the government to provide information about the issues of global warming—about our need to have a scheme that looks at the industries within our nation to see how we can reduce carbon emissions, and to work effectively and cooperatively with industry and with communities to identify the issues and see what we can do together to make a change. It seems to me, Mr Deputy President, that that should not be such a big issue with which we must struggle. However, consistently, there is open rejection.

This week—for some reason!—we have a particular Queensland flavour to the rejection. Most times it is just about why we as a whole nation should not be accepting our responsibilities. This week it is all about Queensland. While I am often all about Queensland, because I was elected by Queensland people, the attempt over the last few days to score cheap, easy points in the week before a state election is not useful. I do not know why people think that an interchange in the Senate will impact on the voting of any citizen of the state of Queensland, but, nonetheless, I am happy to be part of the debate. However, I would think that it would be more useful if we looked at the wider issues.

Certainly, Senator Boswell has raised real concerns about the jobs that will be impacted by the schemes that we brought in under legislation to respond to the challenge of global warming. We have never denied that there would need to be a transition in employment through this process. But the reasons we have put out to the community are specifically about the wider issues—what we must do as a nation, what we must do as a range of industries, to take up the responsibility from which there is no escape. The government have acknowledged that, through the process of information, through the process of working with industry, we are trying to ensure that people can see that they will have a role to play—in fact, there must be the engagement of industry, because without the involvement of industry there will be no progress.

A scare campaign, which is generated simply to cause fear, to cause concern, is not positive. There must be a transition in industry, and certainly we have talked about the kinds of jobs that must be created in our state. I will talk about Queensland in response to the excitement of Senator Macdonald. There are a range of jobs that must be created in Queensland to keep people employed, particularly now as we know there are the other issues of the global economic crisis. But it is particularly concerning that we do not have positive input from the opposition; what we have is a series of scares, a series of negatives and actually an attempt to make political points out of what should be an opportunity in our state and in our nation to be part of what is an international response. One of the real worries is that people are underestimating the concern and the knowledge of so many people in our country. We know there is a problem; we must be part of the solution. (Time expired)