Page 1864 - Week 05 - Thursday, 16 May 2019
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Why are we still sending thousands of tonnes of organic material to landfill, where it turns into methane, which is of course a potent greenhouse gas? Why are we still allowing buildings that are designed in a way to require a large amount of heating and then are not heated by natural gas? Why is it that greenhouses gases from land use in the ACT recently became net positive, an issue related to the amount of land clearing occurring in the ACT? These are the questions that lie ahead of us.
While we support the amendment brought forward by Ms Orr, we need to be very clear that, in having this discussion, we need to not simply reflect on the positive things we have already achieved. They are things to be proud of; they are hopefully a source of inspiration to others but only a beginning.
Amendment agreed to.
MR COE (Yerrabi—Leader of the Opposition) (4.33): There are many questions that spring to mind as a result of this motion moved today by Mr Rattenbury. It is a motion that has been motivated by the Greens’ federal campaign and what they are pushing at a national level. But it really does beg the question: what does a climate emergency actually mean when it comes to the decisions that we make on a daily basis? How does that motivate our decisions that we make on how we live our lives, in addition to the decisions that we make in this place?
There are many things that I could argue about Ms Le Couteur’s speech, including stopping the expansion of the Canberra airport and the fact that we have only got one or two generations of humanity left, but we also need to take stock of where we are at. I think that the federal Liberal government has contributed well to the ACT’s environmental initiatives. Let us look at what has happened at the Monash weir or the Lyneham wetlands, and all the money that has gone into the Murrumbidgee, Lake Burley Griffin and many other initiatives. It is also worth noting that Australia is actually on track to meet its Kyoto 2020 emissions targets. There is some reason for us all to be pleased about the achievements that we have collectively made.
As Mr Orr said, and I believe it is a direct quote, “We all need to take responsibility, no matter how big or small,” which of course begs the question: how is it that the Greens can come in here and say there is a climate emergency and yet they are still willing to go travelling around the world, using aviation fuel, which produces huge amounts of emissions, for their holidays and all sorts of other recreational facilities? It goes to the hypocrisy of the Greens. On one hand it is a climate emergency. But as far as they live their lives—they are very happy to drive the car, they are very happy to go flying around the world and they are very happy to be big emitters themselves—they say one thing and do another.
That is why I move the amendment circulated in my name:
Add:
“(4) given the above assertions, calls on the Greens MLAs to:
(a) abstain from all air travel (including recreation and work); and
(b) undertake all interstate meetings by phone or videoconference.”.
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