Lisa Singh (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Following an announcement earlier today by the opposition leader, I am pleased to say that I have been appointed shadow parliamentary secretary for the environment, climate change and water. Tasmania is the jewel in Australia's environmental crown. As someone who is a proud product of the Apple Isle, who was born in Hobart and educated there and who has raised their children on this beautiful island, I am very honoured to be entering into this portfolio on a day when the future of Tasmania's environment has been at the centre of global attention and when the coalition government's attempt to remove protections over large areas of it has been rejected by the international community, following campaigns around Australia and the successful advocacy by Labor activists and members of parliament. I look forward to working with shadow minister Mark Butler to ensure that we continue to hold up the environmental policies of the Abbott government, or, indeed, the lack of them, to public scrutiny and to fight for the ecological future of the nation in the interests of all Australians and our children and grandchildren to come.

I thank and acknowledge the work of Senator Louise Pratt—a remarkable woman and a valuable advocate for Labor principles, whose loss in this place is deeply felt. I also thank Mark Dreyfus for working with me whilst I was shadow parliamentary secretary in the Attorney-General's portfolio. I look forward to the new challenges and the continued fight against the Abbott government's attempt to destroy the advances in environmental policy undertaken by Labor, from climate change measures such as the implementation of the emissions trading scheme to the protection of our national heritage. It is an important moment in the politics of the environment, both here in Australia and around the world, and I am honoured to be entrusted with responsibility in this portfolio at such a time

As global attention focused on our country with the meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Doha last week and its rejection of the Abbott government's application to remove World Heritage protection from 74,000 hectares of Tasmanian wilderness, the importance of Labor's opposition to the environmental destruction by the coalition government and its misguided priorities became even more apparent. Given Minister Greg Hunt's actions in attempting to remove such an important heritage area from the UNESCO World Heritage List, it would be more accurate to describe him not so much as a minister for the environment but more as a minister against the environment.

We should also remember the importance of the role that many of my Labor colleagues played in opposing this legislation. In May, shadow environment minister, Mark Butler, and shadow minister for foreign affairs, Tanya Plibersek, wrote to all signatories of the World Heritage Convention to reject Tony Abbott's proposal, citing the potential to cause irreparable damage to the outstanding universal values of the Tasmanian wilderness. While Tony Abbott was telling people around the globe, wrongly, that the area was degraded and not worthy of World Heritage status in an attempt to demean the value of this outstanding piece of wilderness and beauty in the eyes of the international community, it was Labor who defended Australia's ecological reputation and argued for the importance of protecting this jewel in our green heritage.

The government's application lacked any logical basis to the claim that the listing criteria did not apply to the area in question. The assertion that it was degraded was disproved by the report from the Department of the Environment—a report which only came to light after the application had gone in. Perhaps the most damning statement about the weakness of the government's application—and international intervention which has cost the Australian taxpayer large amounts of government money to engage in—came from the Portuguese delegation to the committee, which stated:

The justifications presented to the reduction are to say the least feeble.

Accepting this de-listing today would be setting an unacceptable precedent impossible to deny in similar circumstances in the future.

If this committee cares for conservation according to responsible engagement of states parties to the convention when they submit their nominations, we cannot accept these requests to de-list.

Some might say that the recklessness which has marked the Abbott regime's approach to government was present in Minister Hunt's strategic folly. But it is a recklessness which not only threatens Australia's international credentials but also inflicts irreparable damage on the outstanding universal values of the Tasmanian wilderness. What message does it send if the Abbott government delists a World Heritage area in Tasmania? It says, 'This area has been trashed—why come here?' That has no economic benefit for Tasmania. It is actually selling down our state at a time when we know that it is the wilderness, the environment of Tasmania, that has such an economic benefit, a tourism benefit, to our state. Yet here was a government willing to go out to the international community, to the Australian community, and talk it down on a false premise.

Minister Hunt's attitude, putting forward a rather careless defence of his actions, seems very curious. He asserted that he had fulfilled the promise he had made at the election for the delisting simply by making the application and attempting to get the committee to change its position. 'The committee has not approved the Australian government's request—Australia accepts and will consider the decision of the World Heritage Committee,' he said.

So now, in the wake of the countless breaches of trust with the Australian electorate, it is good enough for a minister of the Crown to 'attempt' to implement an election promise in order for the coalition to consider their commitments fulfilled. At a time when new consensus is emerging around the world that opens up the possibility for us to address the challenges of climate change, at a time when emissions trading schemes are being implemented in more and more nations, it is deeply concerning that the reactionary principles of the Abbott government are threatening to turn Australia back and remove us from playing our role and indeed leading the way in this important historical development. Moving on from the successful protection of the Tasmanian World Heritage area today, there is still so much for Labor to do and to fight for against the coalition's attacks on the environment in the years ahead.

Although the coalition tried to downgrade the World Heritage area status that Tasmania's wilderness forests rightly deserve, we know that the commercial sector is recognising the value of Tasmania's wilderness. There was another remarkable achievement today. Virgin Australia, a major commercial company in Australia, today announced an expansion of its carbon offset program, launching a new partnership with the Tasmanian Land Conservancy. Virgin Australia's carbon offset program, Fly Carbon Neutral, is a voluntary option for all domestic and international customers, which involves paying a small fee in the online booking process. That will be another benefit for Tasmania's wilderness.

We know so much about the value of Tasmania's wilderness and how much it means to Tasmanians and indeed the rest of Australia. It is the jewel in Australia's crown. I encourage Minister Greg Hunt to actually come and visit some of our beautiful forests to see for himself what it was that he was trying to delist. Take the lead that shadow ministers Tony Burke and Mark Butler have both taken in going into these areas and seeing for themselves why it is so important that these areas are protected.

As the People's Republic of China moves its substantial resources towards the creation of emissions trading schemes, joining the European Union, American states as large as California and other countries around the world, Labor will continue to advocate for Australia's environment and for leading policy development and practice in the area.

I am really pleased by today's outcome of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, which agreed to protect Tasmania's World Heritage area forests.