Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Senator Payne) to a question without notice asked by Senator Waters today relating to the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.

The UN climate summit in Glasgow is coming up in a matter of weeks. Australia is being left behind. I asked the foreign minister: why is Australia keeping company with petro states like Russia when so many other nations have agreed to strengthen their 2030 targets? The US, the UK, the EU, Canada, South Africa Norway, South Korea, Japan, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Kenya, the United Arab Emirates and so many others have agreed to do so, and yet the government are allowing the pathetic Nationals junior coalition partner to dictate their climate policy and they're having a squabble about 2050 while the rest of the world is talking about 2030 and while the science is saying we need strong 2030 targets. It is the ultimate coalition response to be talking about something that is irrelevant and 30 years out of date, when in fact we need to talk about strengthening our 2030 targets if we are to avoid climate catastrophe.

The science says we have to triple our targets here in Australia to have any hope of meeting the 1½-degree aspiration from the Paris climate summit. That would mean we could save what's left of the Great Barrier Reef, protect our farmland from worse extreme weather events and more drought and protect our people from more severe and more frequent bushfires. But this mob are too in hock to big mining and the coal and gas industries to actually take the science seriously.

The International Energy Agency says that we can't have a single new piece of coal, oil or gas infrastructure opened if we want to stick with 1½ degrees. I asked the minister why, according to the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, there are 72 new major coal projects proposed in Australia and 44 major gas projects planned in the coming years. How on earth are you going to stick with a net zero target for 2050, with new coal, oil and gas happening? What an absolute farce. They're having this dangerous distraction about 2050 while they use public money to open up more coal, oil and gas, meanwhile ignoring the science on the table that says 2030 is what we need to tackle. We need strong science based targets. Shame on this government. I cannot wait to see the back of them.

Question agreed to.