David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

The Select Committee on Information Integrity on Climate Change and Energy's final report is a substantial piece of work. Over the course of this inquiry, the committee received 243 submissions, held 11 public hearings and has produced a comprehensive report that reflects the scale and seriousness of this issue. I want to sincerely thank everyone who contributed to this inquiry. I thank the individuals, experts, researchers and organisations who took the time to make submissions and appear as witnesses. Your evidence has been critical in helping us understand the depth of the challenge we face. I also want to acknowledge the committee secretariat for their exceptional work in coordinating an inquiry of this size and complexity. These processes simply do not function without their professionalism and dedication. I'd also like to thank all committee members: Senator Ananda-Rajah for her exceptional work, Senator Canavan, Senator Darmanin, Senator Whish-Wilson and Senator McLachlan. I was pleased to support the committee's report and also to provide additional comments alongside Senator Andrew McLachlan.

I'd like to take a moment to thank in particular Senator Whish-Wilson. Senator Whish-Wilson has made an exceptional contribution to public life, and he will be sorely missed in this place when he leaves. His leadership on issues of environmental protection, particularly our oceans, and the passion that he brings for our incredible oceans is a real testament to him and his team. I'd also like to thank Senator McLachlan for his leadership throughout this inquiry. He brings a calm, analytical approach in an area that can often be highly contested, and it was a pleasure working with him in co-authoring additional comments.

While we support the report, our additional comments make clear that the evidence before the committee points to the need for real reform. We have called for a set of practical changes: truth-in-political-advertising laws, action to address bots and inauthentic accounts, transparency around platform algorithms, greater user control over what they see online, and long-overdue reform of our lobbying laws. While there is broad consensus on many of these issues, we have not seen the level of urgency from the government that ought to exist. This report, as previous contributors have said, is a really important step, but it needs to be the beginning of meaningful action to address the huge problem of climate misinformation that we face in this country.