Page 4130 - Week 13 - Thursday, 2 December 2021
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While the pandemic has dominated the headlines this year, the existential threat of climate change has never been far behind. This year the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change delivered the sixth assessment report, providing unequivocal evidence and advice to humanity on the urgent need for action. To finish the year, the Glasgow summit brought the world together to consider how to respond to that evidence. On the positive, we saw mainstream discussion of the need to phase out fossil fuel use, commitments to cut methane emissions and develop green shipping, and a range of other partnerships and commitments. On the negative side, for all the fine words spoken in Glasgow and in the lead-up to it, the level of ambition is still not enough and does not match the urgency conveyed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
And then, on the negative side, there was Australia: promoting a continued reliance on fossil fuels, a regular recipient of the Fossil of the Day Award, led by a federal coalition government doing its very best to position us on the wrong side of history. I have been to a few of the conferences of the parties over the years in my roles both in politics and before. I have seen Australia employing delaying tactics and stymieing progress and ambition, but this year they really took it to a new level. It was truly appalling to watch from a distance.
In that context, I thank the Canberra community for supporting this government to be ambitious on climate action. Thank you for backing us in, and we commit to continuing to do our very best to deliver on your hopes and aspirations.
On the subject of thanks, I do have a few others to thank. I would like to take this opportunity to again thank the residents of Kurrajong for allowing me to represent them in this place and for keeping in touch on the vast range of issues that arise in a year. I have now been in the Assembly for a little while and still there are new things that come across my desk that people from the community raise with us.
I would like to thank my fellow Greens MLAs. Having five colleagues in this place simply never gets old. A year on, I am so impressed by how each of them has taken to this place and by their passion for representing their community and the issues that matter both to their communities and to them personally. It is a real pleasure to work with each of them, and I look forward to 2022, because we have great plans.
I would like to thank all of the Greens staff across our offices. They are a talented and committed bunch, and I am grateful for their dedication and professionalism. I particularly thank those in my office—Carol, Matt, Anna, Lewis, Fiona, John, Jen, Lachlan and Melissa—as well as Jess and Steph for their cameos this year. I thank the DLOs who work with me and my team and keep us on track and organised—Chris, Karley and Gez.
I thank the many public servants across the agencies for which I am responsible. One of the great privileges of being a minister is that you get to work with a whole crowd of people who have a wealth of knowledge and experience and who are committed to public service. I enjoy talking policy with them and working out how to solve the many challenges that get thrown our way.
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