Page 207 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 13 February 2008
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Mr Speaker, it is clear that Mr Mulcahy and his former colleagues have their heads stuck in the sand on climate change. When Mr Mulcahy moved this amendment, he said that he believed the ACT community to be selfish and somewhat indulgent. It is interesting to see how he thinks so highly of the people he represents! It could be said Mr Speaker, that by embracing Mr Mulcahy’s suggested no-regrets policy, the ACT government would be fostering that selfish, indulgent behaviour that Mr Mulcahy so readily casts on the people of the ACT. We would be fostering behaviour at the expense of the environment and the future generations that will inhabit it.
I do not know about you, Mr Mulcahy, but I want a world for my children and my children’s children that will reflect the forward thinking of this generation, the forward thinking of a government that has put together a policy to address climate change that calls for action. There will be no economy to look after if we do not make the tough decisions now. A no-regrets environmental policy is as good as a no-action policy. Action, Mr Mulcahy, is what the people of Canberra and Australia are calling for, and action is what the Stanhope Labor government is providing.
As a responsible government there are often times when tough decisions need to be made. This is one of those times. We are not talking about increasing or decreasing taxes; we are not talking about opening or closing down arts facilities; we are talking about our planet and its future.
Mr Mulcahy mentioned that he knew of many eminent organisations that are very comfortable with a no-regrets policy. Perhaps, Mr Speaker, those companies and Mr Mulcahy and his former colleagues would be interested to read the transcript of the public lecture that I attended on “Must climate change end the platinum age?”, delivered by Professor Ross Garnaut at the ANU last year. Clearly they were not moved by Sir Nicholas Stern’s review the year prior to that.
Professor Ross Garnaut has been commissioned by Australia’s state and territory governments to conduct the Garnaut climate change review with an invitation extended to the commonwealth government to join the review, an invitation that I am sure will be accepted as a result of the change of government to one that cares about climate change. The review will examine the impacts of climate change on the Australian economy and recommend medium to long-term policies to improve the prospects of sustainable prosperity.
Professor Garnaut has been Professor of Economics at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies since 1989. Professor Garnaut is, without question, well qualified for this task, and if the Sir Nicholas Stern report has not served as a wake up call for any Australian government, the Garnaut review certainly will. The public lecture that Professor Garnaut delivered summed up the situation very well. We need to take action. It is going to cost money; it is going to take hard work, tough decisions and discipline from not just Australians but the rest of the world. We are not going to solve this crisis without affecting our hip pocket. It is a harsh reality, but a reality nonetheless.
If Mr Mulcahy and the Liberal Party for that matter continue to preach that a no-regrets or no-action policy, is the most effective policy, then, come October this
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