Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I must say, Senator Rennick, that was some speech you gave there of exactly what we're dealing with in this country, and that's climate deniers.

Senator Rennick interjecting—

I'll get on with my speech, and I do rise to speak on this matter of absolute public urgency today, because this place cannot ignore the climate collapse and destruction of country that is happening now on this climate-denying government. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have lived sustainably on this land forever—not 200 years, not 250 years, forever, Senator Stoker. We have songlines across this country that connect us to each other, to our culture, water and sky. We are the caretakers of these lands. Protection of country is at the very core of our culture and connection to the land and sea. Our people are not from country; we are country. The First Nations people of this country have always understood a fundamental thing that this government simply doesn't understand.

Our people understand that when it comes to protection of country, everything is connected—everything. Our relationship to lands, waters and sky is inseparable from our understanding of what it means to be a First Nation person. Our people have sustainably cared for these lands and waters for thousands and thousands of generations. We did this by learning from our elders and passing down our knowledge. Our people aren't consumers; we're custodians. We didn't treat the land like something to own, we didn't mine our country and we didn't frack our country. Generations of our people would take care of country and community. They weren't driven by selfish values of wealth and power. That's what the colonisers brought here to this very place. It's all about power and money and greed. While these colonisers have been here for a tiny fraction of time, our people have been on these lands for thousands of generations, and we're faced with the biggest challenge we will ever face—that is, the climate crisis.

In last night's budget we found out that the government will be handing over $1.1 billion of taxpayers' money to burn the planet even more, to give money to the oil and gas and coal industries, to dirty coal, oil and gas barons that are responsible for the destruction of our climate and our country. This government will do whatever their big corporate mates and the mining lobby ask them to do. That's because the reality is the Liberal Party, the National Party and the Labor Party take dirty donations from developers and mining companies and big corporations. This party does not do that, because we have integrity and we make decisions that are based on protecting and connecting with our country and our communities.

Last week I was in Borroloola at the McArthur mine. That's where I saw with my own eyes what the desecration of country for grubby, easy profit is doing to our lands and our local communities. These resources are pulled up out of the ground by the big mining corporation—Glencore in this case, one of the dirtiest ones going—who have absolutely no respect for traditional owners. Big miners across this country divert and suck up water. They mine our lands for coal, for gas. Then our climate gets drier, hotter and more extreme. Our lands suffer, our waters are poisoned and they dry up—so much pain for so little gain.

Right now we are at a turning point in this country. Colonisers came. They've done so much destruction, extraction and damage to our people, the first people of these lands, in only just over 200 years. That's what they've been able to do. The decisions we make in this place today will have impacts for every single generation to come—every single child, their children, their grandchildren. The decisions made here today will impact their lives and their livelihoods. But I'm not sure whether the government actually thinks that far forward; t's about what they can take now—look after their mates now, stay in power now, forget about future generations.

The good news is the solution to the climate crisis is here. It always has been. First Nations people have solutions to heal this country. We can't even get a seat at the table, and we all know what that looks like. We, the original sovereign people of these lands, have known it all along. When we care for and protect country, country cares for and protects us. We must protect all the living beings belonging to these lands and waters because we share this country with them too. It's not just an animal or a plant or a tree; we are connected spiritually and physically to these living beings.

We can grow our renewable, sustainable energy, clean energy, from the wind and the sun; we've got plenty of that. We can protect our ancient, precious cultural heritage, instead of desecrating it for a quick buck. We can enjoy our lives in harmony with our planet and with plenty of energy if we get our energy from clean sources, if only this out-of-touch climate-denying government would get out of the way. We're running out of time. Climate deniers need to face the facts. They need to get with the program and they need to understand why we're having extreme weather events, before it's too late. I know that you have your climate-denying scientists that will back whatever climate-denying words you want to use, but the reality is you are putting your children's children in extreme danger. Maybe you should think about that for a moment and think about what that means for your family, but also think about the economic impacts that this is going to have on this nation; start thinking in the way that you think about looking after yourself or making a quick buck, because climate action will help you do that.