Page 293 - Week 01 - Thursday, 10 February 2022
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future that we know we need. That target is so weak that if the rest of the world followed us we would lock in catastrophic climate change.
We do not know if federal Labor will commit to any of the other real climate actions that we have already taken here in the ACT, that we have already committed to, that we have already shown are genuinely realistic and possible. We just do not know that because he has not responded. That is how seriously federal Labor are taking climate action. They do not answer the letter. We do know that federal Labor still take huge donations from the fossil fuel industry, and that is clearly what is driving their decisions. We cannot expect good climate policy from a party funded by fossil fuels.
Scott Morrison did respond to the letter, on behalf of the Liberal Party. It is great that he has responded, but the response is not great at all. He has refused to commit to any of the specific actions on climate that we know are needed, that we know match up directly with the science, that we know are urgent and need to happen right now. He has dug in on the fantasy target of net zero by 2050, with no interim targets, through technology yet to be invented, which is magical thinking. He will continue to fund and promote fossil fuel coal and gas.
I am really, really happy about what we are doing here in the ACT. I think that the very best answer we have to climate despair right now is: “Here is how we do it. Here is one we prepared earlier. Here is how we give you 100 per cent renewable electricity. These things are possible and we have the technology and we can do them now.” I am so, so sad that we do not have federal leaders in either of the old major parties who are prepared to do the same.
Justice—coronial reform
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong—Attorney-General, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Gaming and Minister for Water, Energy and Emissions Reduction) (4.59): I rise today to express my sincere thanks to Relationships Australia Canberra and Region for the tremendous assistance they have offered to the government in progressing our coronial reform agenda. As members would know, progressing reform to the coronial system has been a very high priority for me as Attorney-General. We have listened to the advocacy from passionate groups with lived experience—the Coronial Reform Group and, more recently, the Alliance for Coronial Reform—and we have accepted that there is a need for improvement to more compassionately provide closure to loved ones of people who have died and to make space to do the slow thinking that is required to develop systems that will prevent deaths wherever possible.
The government is continuing to engage in coronial reform, but the reason I want to thank Relationships Australia today is for the outstanding work they have performed in bringing together families and workers to begin to draw out their experiences and build understanding of the journey we will take together. In particular, Kerrie Gallagher and Niamh O’Connor from Relationships Australia lent their experience as coronial counsellors and restorative practitioners to facilitate a series of three discussions where families and workers were able to speak directly to each other, and
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