Barbara Pocock (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The evidence of climate change is everywhere. Climate experts have deemed July 2023 the hottest month on record in all of human history. Wildfires are burning in Greece, Italy, Tunisia, Portugal, Croatia and Algeria, and we've just witnessed a melting of Arctic sea ice that would occur naturally only once every 7.5 million years. The UN Secretary-General has sounded the climate death knell, declaring that the era of global warming has ended and that the era of global boiling has arrived. Yet politicians sitting in this very building have been ignoring the warning signs and consigning Australians to a future of unbreathable air and unbearable heat. Hands over ears, this government has approved three new coal projects in the last couple of months alone. Australians did not vote for this, but Labor are captured by donations from the coal and gas industries.

Dr Joelle Gergis is one of our many leading contributors to the international climate debate. I thank her and her colleagues for their contributions. She recently wrote:

… our political leaders are choosing to support the fossil fuel industry down to the bitter end … our leaders are choosing to safeguard the profits of an industry that sells products they know are destroying the planet.

Clearly, this industry is fighting for its survival, not ours. The level of fossil fuel profits and climate inaction is unacceptable. The endless stream of climate disasters inundate our newsfeeds, but, as the UN Secretary-General said, this must not inspire despair. Instead, let it inspire action.

Labor's new fossil fuel approvals are costing people their homes, their lives and eventually their futures. We are seeing the consequences of their inaction play out daily in front of our eyes and on our screens. It is affecting the optimism of the generations ahead. The Labor government is being reckless with our climate and our future. It's time to stop new coal and gas if we're to preserve a liveable planet and a future for our kids.