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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 9 Hansard (4 September) . . Page.. 2946 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

What are the effects of global climate change? Information put together by the IPCC clearly indicates that regions of the earth will suffer from high-temperature events, floods, droughts, increased fire risk, pest outbreak, changes in the composition, structure and functioning of ecosystems and, of course, the resultant impact on primary production. Those are not insignificant consequences. Those are not issues to be trivialised by any Minister for the Environment. This Minister stands up in this place and says, "It is really not an issue we need to worry about. We are doing our little bit but only because we are told to; but we do not really believe it is important". That is appalling, and he should be held accountable for that.

The Minister said that you cannot set levels and you cannot undertake strategies to reduce greenhouse gases until you are able to measure them. Again, what an absurd argument! It is absurd for two reasons. If you know that a problem exists, if you know it is already there, if you know that greenhouse gases contribute to global warming, you do not sit back and say, "We cannot do anything about these gases until we know what level we are producing". If you know what the problem is and you know of ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, then you do it.

The Minister says, "I am not going to do anything until we can measure this". Even though he knows that the problem exists, even though the evidence is on the table that the problem exists and even though ways to reduce greenhouse gases are appearing now, he does nothing. What an absurd suggestion from this Minister who suggests that he is the Minister for the Environment! He is very happy to put his photo in a little pamphlet telling the rest of us what we can do about greenhouse gases. He is very happy to be seen associated in that manner. Mind you, it was a very long essay associated with his photo. I do not think anyone actually read it, because it is so damn boring. He is prepared to do that, but he is not prepared to take concrete steps to deal with this issue in the ACT. That is a stunning indictment on this Minister.

Greenhouse gases are clearly the most immediate threat to the security of our community, not only here in the ACT but in Australia and globally. There is one very important contribution that this Government here in the ACT can make to dealing with that issue - one of many, but one I believe that they should be paying far more attention to. It relates to the attitude of the Federal Government on greenhouse gases.

Mr Humphries: Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, I think that you or Mr Cornwell as Speaker has already considered the question of whether anything to do with the Federal Government's greenhouse gas emission performance is relevant to this debate and ruled that it is not. The matter of public importance is: "The need for the ACT Government to increase action to reduce the ACT's greenhouse gas emissions". Clearly, the matters of the Federal Government's performance are not relevant. Mr Corbell said in his earlier point of order that we have to lobby the Federal Government and therefore what the Federal Government is doing is somehow a matter that we can debate in this place. This is not about us lobbying the Federal Government to fix greenhouse problems in the ACT. This is about greenhouse performance generally by the Federal Government, which is what Mr Corbell wanted to speak about before. That, I would submit, is clearly outside the relevance of this matter.

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