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

It took the Senate forcing the disclosure of the climate risk report for us to even see this thing, which had been gathering dust on government shelves for months and months. Frankly, it makes sense now why the government was so keen to keep this secret—the revelations in the report about the impacts of the climate crisis on all of us are absolutely chilling. The fact that the government had this information and still released a climate target that is so weak, that does not keep any of us safe and that just keeps on delivering for coal and gas corporations is a complete betrayal of the Australian people and of their duty to the country.

Anything less than net zero by 2035 condemns Australia to more than two degrees of warming. It's a breach of the Paris Agreement, but it's not just numbers on a page. We know, from this climate risk report, that that will lead us to devastating climate impacts, like heat related deaths surging over 400 per cent in Sydney and Darwin; three million people—a third of the coastline—getting smashed by coastal inundation and storm surges; Meanjin, Brisbane, flooding for 300 days of the year and Fremantle for 200 days of the year; and over $600 billion wiped from the property market.

The government was sitting on this report that revealed all of those impacts—keeping us all in the dark—and it still went ahead and approved Woodside's North West Shelf gas project just 15 days after being sworn in for its second term of government. That Woodside project would emit more emissions every year than all of Australia's coal-fired power stations combined. It also threatens the oldest art gallery in the world by pumping more nitrous oxide and sulphur oxides onto the 50,000-year-old rock art at Murujuga.

This Labor government doubled down on that terrible climate decision and decided to add some more coal to the mix too when it approved an extension of Glencore's Newlands coalmine until 2045. Have they ever met a coal or gas company that they're willing to say no to? Now, we're up to 31 coal and gas projects approved by the Albanese government. At the same time, they've got the audacity to say that they're taking climate action. Coal and gas are the biggest drivers of global heating, and approving more only makes the situation worse. Coal and gas corporations, which are beloved by both big parties, are delivering all of us a bleak climate future. But, with their 2035 target, this Labor government have decided that that is who they want to deliver for—the polluting, tax-avoiding coal and gas corporations. They've got their profits protected while the rest of us and all the species that we share this planet with are put in harm's way.

Coal and gas companies are reaping megaprofits from cooking the planet, and this Labor government is giving them a free pass to do so. It is absolutely appalling. The coal and gas profits soar, the big parties get to keep taking their donations, and the rest of us pick up the tab for climate fuelled weather events and watch the planet burn. The climate crisis is the biggest risk to our safety, to nature, to our way of life, to our economy and to productivity. The Climate risk assessment report should have been a wake-up call to Labor, but it wasn't. It was kept hidden because it clearly lays out what the government are trying to hide—the fact that they are putting the profitability of coal and gas corporations before the safety of people and the future of our planet. The significant loss of life, the strain on health systems, more extreme heat, more devastating floods, crop failures, fires, global insecurity and the death of every single coral reef around the world—that's what this Labor government have signed us up to. Their own report confirms it. They are driving us off a climate cliff and backstabbing climate-vulnerable communities in the service of coal and gas profits and hoping that nobody will notice. Well, it's pretty hard to miss the record temperatures, the increased severe weather events, the soaring insurance premiums, the thousands without power and the streets turned into rivers by floodwater.

Labor could change course and work with the Greens to prevent climate collapse, but this Prime Minister has made it perfectly clear that his preference is to keep big business happy. His commitment to coal and gas giants, like Woodside, BHP, Santos and Rio Tinto, means that he is in fact committing all of us to the dire revelations in the climate risk assessment report. It is not worth it. You were elected to protect the people and to protect the planet, and we will keep trying to force you to do that. (Time expired)