Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Diabolical, dire, extremely confronting—these are the words used to describe the National climate risk assessment, a report that the Labor government has kept locked away from the public for over nine months. Labor violated an order of the Senate to keep this crucial climate information from the public. Now under pressure from the Greens, they have been forced to say that they will release it at some point. Why not now? What are they hiding? The report will reveal the full extent of the devastating impacts of the climate crisis and the very real consequences for the families and communities on the front lines of climate disasters, as well as our coral reefs, biodiversity and ecosystems.

The Labor government, by continuing to rubberstamp coal and gas projects, are setting our country and the globe on the path to climate ruin. Just this month we have seen rainfall records smashed across my state of New South Wales. People have been devastated by unprecedented levels of flooding again and again. They deserve to know the full extent of what they have to endure and what they have to adapt to. In Pakistan, the place I grew up, in doomsday scenes, torrential rain, flash flooding and mudslides have resulted in the death of hundreds and the displacement of thousands.

The government's 2035 targets will show whether Labor intends to put climate ahead of the profits of their pals, the coal and gas corporations from whom their donations flow. A target that does not hit net zero by 2035 and does not include a plan to phase out coal and gas and end native forest logging will not keep the people or the planet safe.