Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Rice clearly said in her presentation—and Hansard will show this—'That's why the Barrier Reef is dead.' It is not dead, but the Greens would have you believe that and so would the UBC—what used to be the ABC—all the GetUp! people and all the left-wing groups of that type.

This debate needs a reality check. Unfortunately, you will never get it from the Greens. They can't tell you anything about the science, because they simply don't know. They just mouth the platitudes and the particular thing they heard from some left-wing group at some time in the past. It needs a reality check. Start answering those questions that Senator Roberts puts to you. I don't know whether he has the knowledge, but he has the facts on the cyclones and the floods. They're not new; they've happened all the time through the world's evolution, and they will continue to happen. They are a natural impact. Even if you are a believer in man's inducement of climate change, what Australia emits will have virtually no impact. (Time expired)