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

I rise to again call on the government to release the National climate risk assessment. In the coming weeks, the government will decide Australia's emissions reduction target for 2035. It's a decision that will shape our environment, our economy and the safety of our communities for decades to come. This isn't just a number; this is about the value that we place on the people and places that we love. It will affect our standing on the world stage, and it will affect our ability to stand at meeting like the COP, which Australia is desperately trying to secure, and push for and demand greater action from countries like the USA, China, India and other large emitters to safeguard our collective futures on this incredible place that we call home.

There is so much at stake when it comes to climate change, so I call for the release of the National climate risk assessment because we need to see exactly what is at stake. Not releasing it before you set a target for 2035 is like planning a road trip without checking the map. You have no idea about the potential hazards, roadblocks, fires and floods ahead of you. This report isn't just a spreadsheet or a bureaucratic box tick; it tells us which communities will face unbearable heat, which coastlines we might lose, what parts of our economy will buckle under the pressure of a warming world. This is not alarmist; this is what we face after decades of delay. Yet we still have a window for bold leadership and bold action from this government.

Insiders have described the assessment's findings as dire and diabolical, but just weeks out from setting the 2035 target, this government is keeping our communities in the dark. How can Australians judge whether the government's 2035 target is strong enough to protect us, strong enough to protect the people and places we love, if we're not even allowed to see the facts. We have to start telling the truth when it comes to climate change in this country. This isn't just about climate policy; this is also about democratic accountability, because people cannot participate in decisions if they are denied the information those decisions are based on. If the public isn't trusted with the truth, they cannot be expected to trust a government that withholds it.

We have heard in this debate in the Senate about the release of this report and the government's refusal to comply with orders of the Senate. We have heard coalition and Greens senators point out that this isn't the first time the government has chosen secrecy over scrutiny. In fact, once the numbers were crunched on the last term of government, the Albanese Labor government became the second most secretive government on record. Compliance with OPDs dropped to just 32.8 per cent. Only 32.8 per cent of OPDs were complied with. That's a real contempt of this chamber. If you compare that to the Keating government, which we hear so much about from those on the government side, the Keating government complied 92.5 per cent of the time. That seems far more respectful of the Senate. Just one in four FOI requests are now granted in full, which is the lowest on record, and the average wait time for an FOI review is now 15.5 months.

I heard Senator Bragg use this line as well: to be more secretive than the Morrison government, in which the Prime Minister himself had five secret ministries, is quite an achievement.

But it's not too late to turn that around. That is my request, my ask, my urging of the government: turn it around, come clean with the Australian people and act in a way that says to them, 'We actually work for you, and we're going to give you the transparency you deserve.'