Climate Change

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (15:34): South Australia has a very proud history of taking action on climate change. Since we became the first state in the nation to legislate emissions reduction targets we have been a leader in this country, but we have also been leading the world. We have been innovative in climate policy, we have invested in renewable generation and storage, we have explored ways to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change.

The former Labor government led the way on climate change, leaving a legacy of which all South Australians can be extremely proud. Much has been said about the state Liberal government's failure to continue our climate leadership, especially its shameful pre-election commitment to end our state's Renewable Energy Target.

The reality is that South Australians should not have had to go it alone. To be most effective, emissions reduction requires all levels of government to work together in their shared task to reduce emissions and protect our environment for future generations. State and local governments have done this with great effect, building partnerships to tackle the causes and effects of the changing climate right across this country.

The outgoing Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Mr Martin Haese, can be especially proud of his work in this area. He worked constructively with the Labor government and with the succeeding Liberal government on ensuring that the Adelaide city council was leading the way, although he got very little respect from the Liberal government and very little cooperation.

The Carbon Neutral Adelaide plan is a fantastic example of how a state government and a city council can work together. It is an ambition for our city to lead not only the nation but the world—a big ambition—and be the first city in the world to operate on net zero emissions. That is the sort of ambition that is required to meet these goals. Launching that plan took a lot of ambition and a lot of courage, and I want to pay my respects to the outgoing Lord Mayor for his ability to muster a council—a divided council, it should be said—behind this grand vision of his and of the former premier Jay Weatherill.

The plan is, of course, an ongoing testament to the vision of former premier Jay Weatherill and of outgoing Lord Mayor Martin Haese and his council as well. It also demonstrated a critical component of climate action: two levels of government—preferably three, but two will do—both of which have recognised that the challenge before them is too great to address alone. Unfortunately, and as I just alluded to, the federal government has largely vacated this field.

The federal Liberal-National Coalition has long been unable to hold down a position on climate policy. Indeed, it is this issue that has brought down prime ministers. Tony Abbott became leader of the Liberal Party because of the right wing's disgust at Malcolm Turnbull working cooperatively with the then Labor government on climate change, and just a few months ago—it seems longer but it was only recently—Malcolm Turnbull found himself facing defeat in the House of Representatives on his National Energy Guarantee. There were media reports of his own backbench voting against this key government policy and its proposed emissions reduction target.

However, the chaos in the federal Liberal Party over climate change affects not only the party's leadership. Last month the ABC reported that documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show that the federal government sat on emissions data for almost two months before allowing the public to see it. The data was embarrassing, making clear that Australia's carbon emissions were increasing on the Coalition's watch and showing that in the reporting period, after adjustment for seasonal variation, Australia had its highest levels of carbon pollution since 2011.

The data showed that Australia has been on an upward trend of annual emissions since 2013 with no sign of putting a brake on that trend. Why did it take the federal government so long to release this report? The ABC reports that the data was sent to the relevant minister and assistant minister seven weeks before its release and again three weeks before its release when a new minister was appointed. Oddly enough, the data was released on a Friday afternoon, a public holiday in Victoria and the weekend of celebrations for both the AFL and NRL grand finals.

Time for action on climate change is well and truly here. The problem is getting worse as time passes, and scientists around the world project that we have only 10 years to solve the problem we face and limit unwanted global warming to 1.5°. Australia is a major per capita emitter of carbon pollution. We play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region—or we would like to think we do—and we can provide a model for comparable nations to follow.

South Australia has led the way at a state level and in partnership with local government. Other states, too, are ramping up their efforts; Queensland, for example, is delivering a state-owned, renewables-focused power company. Contrast it with the Liberals in this government, in this state, who want to sell off the power we have actually brought back. We need national leadership and it will not come from the federal Liberal government. Recent by-elections have shown that Australian voters know exactly how to deal with this—vote the Liberals out.