Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Hansard source

OWN (—) (): I rise today to speak on the Climate Change Bill 2022. Droughts, fires, pandemic and floods: four words which sum up the past decade. I want to highlight the story of a former bus driver from Ballarat, the late Peter Gaylor. Although being a local and loved bus driver took up a fair chunk of Peter's day, he still managed to find time to be a volunteer firefighter. In fact, he was a driver of fire trucks. Peter was also a proud and loyal member of mighty Transport Workers Union. I know his colleagues miss him dearly. Under the conditions of his enterprise agreement, Peter was able to take four weeks of paid leave to volunteer during the Black Summer Bushfires in north-eastern Victoria. Peter spent four weeks day in, day out protecting lives and residences as well as bushland and native habitat. His skills as a qualified heavy vehicle driver saved lives, and his knack for driving protected the team of firefighters who were with him.

The fires that Peter faced head on were what many referred to as unprecedented. Lives were lost, species were put on the verge of extinction, 24 million hectares were burnt and more carbon dioxide was released into the atmosphere that Australia emits in a year. It is indisputable that that sheer magnitude of what Peter and so many others faced during the bushfires was exacerbated due to climate change. The consequences of climate change are complex and interrelated. Acting on climate change will lead to safer workplaces and safer roads for all road users, and we need to act now.

We have seen climate change intensify with numerous challenging and devastating weather events in recent years. The science is clear and advancements are unanimous. Human activity has caused changes in our atmosphere. The changes have led to significant ongoing disruption in the world's climate. The IPCC Sixth assessment report paints a stark picture of Australia's vulnerability, from declining agricultural production due to hotter, dryer conditions through to the destruction of low-lying coastal areas due to rising sea levels.

Importantly, addressing climate change brings with it a wealth of opportunities to support a transition which benefits working people and our communities. In Tasmania, the building of hydro has led to countless Tasmanian jobs, both directly and indirectly. The announcement made by the Prime Minister of an accelerated delivery of fee-free TAFE places will provide us with the skilled workforce that we will need to tackle a warming planet and a changing planet. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shift to a net zero economy. A report by the Business Council of Australia suggested addressing climate change could add as much as $890 billion to our GDP by 2070. The immediate opportunities for Australians is grasping the renewables revolution. Under Labor's Powering Australia plan, the government will invest $20 billion to update our electricity grid to support more renewables coming into the system.

The impact climate change is having on vulnerable communities is indisputable. Vulnerable communities already experience financial and social disadvantage with fewer resources to cope with, adapt to and recover from the effects of climate change.

The purpose of the bill I rise to speak on today is simply to ensure that Australia's emissions reduction targets are recorded not only in international agreements but also in Commonwealth legislation. Providing certainty and demonstrating commitment: that is what this bill will achieve. Further, the bill will place obligations on the Commonwealth. The consequential amendment bill will insert the consideration of emissions reduction targets into 14 pieces of federal legislation. The legislation will cover Commonwealth departments, entities and schemes that are or could be contributing to national emissions reduction. Embedding emissions reduction targets in legislation will ensure that Commonwealth departments, entities and schemes not only can contribute to emissions reduction targets but can be a springboard for any future targets.

Policy on the run is not the prerogative of this government. We will be informed by experts every step of the way. This legislation will bring experts back to the table by requiring independent review and independent advice from the Climate Change Authority when it comes to future emissions reduction targets and the actions we take to reach them. This advice will be public, and the minister will be obliged to both formally respond to it and take the advice into account in decision making. By requiring the minister to make an annual statement to parliament on the progress the government is making on climate change, governments can no longer avoid scrutiny. They will be directly accountable to the parliament and the Australian people and will have to explain the results of their actions with reference to independent expert advice. This has been sorely missed over the last decade. We saw our public service hollowed out under successive coalition governments. Our government is committed to revitalising our Public Service and encouraging frank advice.

The legislation that we have before us is good. It's good for the country, good for the economy and good for young people. We know young people are taking action in their everyday lives to address climate change. Now they finally have a government that will take action alongside them. Today, being part of a government legislating the Climate Change Bill feels momentous, years in the making and fought for by so many. It is important that we talk about young people because they have been on the front line of the chorus call for change. I know myself, with two young children, 21 and 17, the work they have been advocating for to ensure that we get to this day, that this day has finally come.

It's time to get on the right side of history, and I say that to those who are seeking to vote against this legislation. The reports, advice and scientific research from business and all sectors of our society say, and the plea from young people is, to get this done and start this necessary work before it is too late. All of those people are saying to those who are still on the wrong side of history—who still insist that taking action on climate change is not good for our country, is not good for our economy and is not good for our young people—that they are wrong. It's not just the government who are saying that they're wrong; it's near every sector of the Australian community: the business community, unions and the scientific community. Young people are pleading with you. And I ask again that you give up this fight that you have conducted over the last nearly 10 years, and before that, and put this country first, put the economy first, put our young people first and join with the government to support what is going to be a momentous day. We will come back and look at this day, with this piece of legislation going through, as being a momentous day—a day when there's going to be proper transparency and proper accountability. That's what this bill seeks to do, to put into legislation—to ensure that the minister responsible is accountable not only to the Australian community but to the Australian parliament. That's what's been sorely missed over this past decade.

As I've said, it's important that we take time to consider the young people of Australia, because they have been doing a lot of the heavy lifting, raising the debate and the discussion and engaging with politicians through their schools, talking to one another, talking to their parents and talking to their coworkers. They have been at the forefront of the campaign for this day. They are the front line of change to climate change. They are also going to be on the front line of innovation and action that we will need in order to take on climate change. We know that young people are already taking action in their everyday lives to address climate change, and now they finally have a government who will take action alongside them.

So I say to the opposition, do not ignore them. Come, put aside these failed debates, these failed ideas that you continue to cling to, because you're not doing this country any good. As I said, I am so pleased to be part of a government who is finally taking climate change seriously, and I hear a collective sigh of relief everywhere I go that the Labor Party were elected as government. The Labor Party has taken up the challenge of climate change. I commend this bill to the Senate.