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

I move:

That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

The need for the Government to immediately release the NCRA Report, so Australians can assess whether the Government's proposed climate response will adequately protect the future of coral reefs, and the communities and economies that depend on them, from coastal flooding, coral bleaching, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse.

After burying it for nine months, Greens pressure has forced the Labor government to commit to releasing the National climate risk assessment, but they're still refusing to release it before they set the 2035 targets, claiming public interest immunity. I thank the Senate for their support—in fact, just a few minutes ago—in rejecting that claim. I look forward to the government tomorrow, hopefully, complying with the order to produce the report, although, frankly, I won't hold my breath. I would also like to thank the Senate for supporting my motion to establish an inquiry into the government's secrecy in withholding this climate risk assessment report.

This is an opportunity to investigate why the Labor government has withheld this report for so long—nigh on nine months now—as well as recognising the hard work that the report's researchers have done in establishing how truly devastating unmitigated climate change would really be for Australians and nature. This inquiry will investigate what's in that secret report, whether Labor releases it or not. But they should release it immediately so Australians can understand and see for themselves whether the climate response will adequately protect their future and their children's futures.

People deserve to know exactly how global warming is making our country less safe, destroying the environment and supercharging climate disasters that are already costing communities dearly. Australia has done too little for far too long, and now science based targets that keep warming below two degrees require the monumental effort of reaching net zero in the next ten years, not by 2050—and not by never, as the coalition proposes. Labor has to announce Australia's 2035 target this September, and people need to see the true impacts of the climate crisis before the government announce their climate targets.