I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Senator Wong) to a question without notice I asked today relating to climate change.

Imagine asking the Prime Minister whether the Prime Minister agrees that digging up Australian coal and exporting it to be burned overseas contributes to climate change and not getting a straight answer. Well, that is exactly what happened here today in 2026. When I asked that very question of the minister representing the Prime Minister, she would not provide an answer. The climate crisis is unfolding before our very eyes, and this Labor government still cannot acknowledge it. I feel like I'm in some sort of parallel universe when I come inside this place.

On the streets, people are excited about this landmark victory. They are celebrating the fact that the courts are doing their job to protect the futures of young people, like those sitting up here in the chamber today, but this government cannot even acknowledge that. They cannot even bring themselves to back the retired schoolteachers and community members who took on the might of the coal industry and won. What a victory.

Last week, those very Australians secured that landmark victory in the High Court. The court made clear that the emissions from Australian coal burned overseas cannot simply be ignored when governments assess the climate impacts of coal projects—of course they can't. For the Mount Pleasant project, overseas emissions account for 98 per cent of its total emissions—98 per cent. That means just two per cent of the project's emissions were originally being counted. Imagine assessing the climate impact of a massive coal mine and leaving out 98 per cent of that pollution.

This is an enormous win for the Hunter Valley community, who have spent years fighting to protect their homes and their future. Retired teachers, local residents, ordinary people who refused to accept that their community should be sacrificed for the profits of billionaire coal companies—they stood up, they organised, they went to court and they won. The community has done its job. The courts have done their job. Now it is time for this Labor government to do its job. It doesn't matter whether coal is burned here or burned overseas; it is still being burned. It is still contributing to the climate crisis.

But what did we hear from Minister Wong today? We heard that the federal government wasn't party to those proceedings. Well, I'm sorry, but you cannot administrate your way out of a climate crisis and you certainly cannot hide behind legal technicalities while continuing to approve the very projects driving this crisis. The minister also refused to tell us whether the government has received legal advice, let alone whether they'd actually share it with the public, who I would argue have an interest in understanding and knowing the impacts and the flow-on effects of this landmark victory. This is more secrecy, more evasion, more of the same from this Labor government.

The minister told us that the government would apply the law. Well, I'm sorry, but that is the bare minimum that people expect. They expect leadership. They had high hopes, when you took office, that you would work with the Greens to actually make people's lives better, to stop digging up new coal and gas, to stop feeding this climate insecurity. Well, the real question is whether Labor will finally accept responsibility for the climate consequences of the coal and gas projects that it keeps approving. There have been nearly 40 new coal and gas projects approved since this Labor government came to government, because they are still refusing to rule out the massive Hunter Valley Operations, another enormous coal project that will pollute for decades to come. And all of this is happening as Australia is preparing to head to Cop 31, the world's biggest climate conference.

The Prime Minister will stand shoulder to shoulder with Pacific leaders, talking about Australia's climate leadership while back home his very government continues to wave through new coal and gas projects. This is an existential crisis for people across the pacific islands. The very future of their nations is on the line. It is doublespeak. How can you look Pacific Island leaders in the eyes and promise climate action while going home and approving more coal and gas? Well, we say shame on you. You should be utterly embarrassed by your hypocrisy, because you cannot stand with Pacific Island leaders while approving the very projects that threaten their futures. Australians see through the spin. COP31 cannot be another stage for Labor to grandstand on while doing exactly what the fossil fuel industry wants back home. Labor must do its job. It needs to stop approving new coal and gas and it needs to leave those fossil fuels in the ground.

Question agreed to.