|
Energy and Utilities Administration Amendment (Climate Change Fund) Bill 2007
|
|
Friday, 22 June 2007 |
|
Mr MIKE BAIRD (Manly) [2.37 p.m.]: It would be remiss of me not to speak on the Energy and Utilities Administration Amendment (Climate Change Fund) Bill 2007, having just completed a campaign in the electorate of Manly, where the issue of climate change is dear to the hearts of my constituents. During the campaign it was clear to me that my constituents believe that the State Government is not doing enough about the risks created by climate change. I will not reiterate those arguments but will instead make one or two points. It is time the Government took responsibility for some of its actions. In the lead-up to the recent election government departments were supposed to undertake water reviews. I have been advised that only seven of the 37 government departments completed the review. I ask the Government to update us on that issue. How are the reviews going? What is the Government doing about the responsibility of those departments to be more careful about the water they are using and about the environmental damage each department is causing? What is each department's footprint, and how is it being addressed?
The member for Pittwater and others have pointed out that in the same week as we are debating this bill, we have also been talking about a desalination plant which cannot be described, whatever spin is put on it, as having a positive impact on climate change. The Government is establishing a Climate Change Fund and, at the same time, by its own actions is almost denigrating the merits of that proposal. On the one hand it is taking positive action. On the other hand, it is not. The Government is not taking this matter seriously. Last week planning approval was given for a coal-fired power station, and this week we are talking about a Climate Change Fund. It is one thing to talk, but it is another thing to act. Where is the commitment to renewable energy? That is the question.
At the moment we are talking about targets, but where is the action? My community at Manly is very much open to the impacts of climate change; in fact, reports show that a big portion of the electorate would be under water by 2050 if the impacts of climate change are realised as the water rises.
I call on this Government to start taking the impacts of climate change seriously and to hold a summit. We need to take this debate well beyond politics. We need a group that will guide and direct this State on climate change issues. Unless we prioritise climate change we will not get anywhere. In my election campaign I very clearly articulated that it was time we put politics aside and took climate change seriously. I call on the Government, as part of this proposal, to do that.
|
