Matt Thistlethwaite (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This matter of public importance on carbon pricing before the Senate this afternoon is a clear demonstration of just how out of touch those opposite are when it comes to protecting the environment and the welfare and living standards of Australians living in rural and regional communities. If there is one group within those communities which stands to lose the most from inaction on climate change it is people in rural and regional economies. That is why this government is taking action on climate change. That is why we are acting to protect the long-term sustainability of our climate, regions and communities.

We believe that climate change is real. We believe that human induced activities are causing the warming of our planet. We heed the expert advice of scientists who, throughout the world and in Australia, have overwhelmingly said that the warming of the planet will see a greater incidence of floods, of extreme drought conditions, of coastal erosion and of extreme weather events. The nature of our climate and habitat and of our country and its position in the world mean that these risks associated with climate change will have a proportionately larger effect on many rural and regional communities and industries, in particular Australia's agriculture and aquaculture industries.

This is a point that was very well made by a farmer who attended a forum put on by the member for Calare, John Cobb, in Bathurst on 29 August. I attended that forum as the duty senator for the seat of Calare. Unfortunately, the organisers of that forum did not allow me to speak. They did not want to hear what the government was doing to take action on climate change. But I was surprised when a farmer—quite a brave farmer—stood up in that forum and said that he believed that climate change was real. This person was a farmer who grew grapes for the wine industry in the local community, and he believed in climate change because he was beginning to see the effects on his crop. He was seeing changes in weather patterns. He was seeing a greater incidence of extreme weather events, including hail, and the potential damage that these would have on his crop. He was seeing pests appearing at times of the year that they were not supposed to appear. Most importantly, he said that he was investing in China. He had been to China and visited a number of regions there because of investment opportunities, and he was blown away by the fact that the Chinese government was taking action on climate change, that the Chinese economy is the biggest producer of wind turbines and of solar energy in the world and that the Chinese government has a five-year plan to transition to an emissions trading scheme. His message to those people at the forum was: we need to get on board. We, as a community, a government and a nation, need to take action on climate change, and the longer we wait the greater the cost will be for our communities—particularly for those who live in rural and regional areas.

The Garnaut climate change review highlighted some of the potential effects of climate change on rural and regional communities. It highlighted that changes in climate will produce extreme changes in temperature, rainfall and extreme weather events that will affect water availability and change water and soil quality. It will pose increasing fire risks for rural and regional communities. It will see an increasing incidence of pests affecting crops and an increasing incidence of noxious weeds and disease. Those who work and live in our regions and those who work the land understand the effects of climate change and the potential risks that it poses for their livelihoods and for their communities. Most importantly, they also understand the potential damage that is done by us not acting and the potential increase in costs that they will bear if we delay in taking action. They are the most vulnerable. They are the people at the front line, who will potentially be affected the most by climate change if we do not act.

The Garnaut climate change review found that irrigated agricultural production in the Murray-Darling Basin could decline by 92 per cent by 2100 if we do not take action to reduce carbon emissions. It also highlighted increases in sea temperatures and the effects that this will have on aquaculture. Again, those who are working on the front line understand the importance of taking action.

I want to draw the Senate's attention to a report by Surf Life Saving Australia. The erosion of our coastline is a potentially damaging effect of rising sea levels, and Surf Life Saving Australia has commissioned a study to develop a climate change adaptation road map that will assist in the management of projected climate change impacts. These are the people on the front line, protecting our communities in surf life saving week in and week out. This study has shown that of the 128 surf clubs in New South Wales 47 per cent are located in coastal zones classified as zones of potential instability. Many of these are in rural and regional communities. Here we have a well-respected community organisation understanding that we need to take action on climate change and supporting what the government is doing.

The government also understands that there will be impacts associated with the transition to a clean energy future, and that is why we are working with rural and regional communities to make sure that transition is a smooth one and that we protect the livelihoods and incomes of people who work our land. That is why the government has excluded agricultural land sectors from the carbon price. However, there will be opportunities for those in these land sectors to secure economic rewards under the Carbon Farming Initiative. If farmers do take voluntary action under the Carbon Farming Initiative then there will be opportunities in terms of the way that scheme works. I attended a carbon farmers conference in Dubbo on 29 September. I was pleasantly surprised by the submissions that were made to that conference. That conference drew together carbon farmers not only from throughout Australia but from throughout the world. Many of them understand the opportunities that the Carbon Farming Initiative and the government's Clean Energy Future package will pose for those who work, day in, day out, on our land. I was really heartened by the fact that many at that conference expressed the view to me and to those present that Australia leads the world when it comes to carbon farming initiatives and new carbon farming techniques. Many of those farmers presented to the conference on some of the initiatives that they were taking on their land, particularly their non-arable land, their hilly country, and the plantings that they were using as carbon sinks and the opportunities that will come from the Carbon Farming Initiative once it is up and running. So there is widespread support for the scheme amongst the farming community. I was pleasantly surprised and heartened by the representations from those carbon farmers at that conference in Dubbo in late September.

Senator Boswell has raised the issue of modelling. I find this surprising, given the Liberal Party's performance when it comes to modelling on the carbon tax. I draw the Senate's attention to the modelling that was undertaken by the New South Wales government on the potential effects of carbon pricing on regions. They found through their modelling that there would be effects on employment in the Hunter Valley and the Illawarra. That is disputed and I will not go into that. But what they did not disclose to people was the fact that the modelling also showed that in other regions, including northern New South Wales, the mid-north coast and the south-east coast, there would be more job opportunities associated with the carbon pricing legislation—a clear demonstration of this misleading campaign that those opposite are running to try to hoodwink the public when it comes to this very important environmental issue.