Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Nationals for bringing the current state of the drought across the country and the value of supporting farming communities to the attention of the Senate. However, the Greens fundamentally disagree with this motion, because the coalition has failed farmers. The climate emergency is already costing farmers a billion dollars a year, and farmers are feeling the brunt of the devastating heat, drought and fires more than most. They will be going bankrupt across the country, and regional jobs are going to be devastated by the climate crisis if we have a gas led recovery and if the government keeps propping up coal. The coalition should be ashamed of themselves. Of course we support the little they're doing, but we call on them, instead of passing self-congratulatory motions, to tackle devastating drought seriously by taking serious action on our climate crisis.