Summary

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The majority voted against a motion, so it was unsuccessful. It was introduced by Australian Democrats Senator Lyn Allison (Vic).

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that on 11 June and 12 June 2008 citizens and scientists came together in Canberra for the 2008 Manning Clark House Conference ‘Imagining the Real Life on a Greenhouse Earth’ [PDF, 1.2MB], in honour of former federal Minister, the Honourable Dr Barry Jones, AO, and concluded that:

(i) global warming is accelerating,

(ii) the Arctic summer sea ice is expected to melt entirely within the next 5 years, decades earlier than predicted in the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007),

(iii) scientists judge the risks to humanity of dangerous global warming to be high,

(iv) the loss of the Great Barrier Reef now seems likely,

(v) extreme weather events, such as storm surges adding to rising sea levels and threatening coastal cities, will become more frequent,

(vi) there is a real danger that we have reached or will soon reach critical tipping points and the future will be taken out of our hands – the melting Arctic sea ice could be the first such tipping point,

(vii) beyond 2ºC of warming seems inevitable, unless greenhouse gas reduction targets are tightened, and we risk huge human and societal costs, and perhaps even the effective end of industrial civilisation,

(viii) we need to cease our assault on our own life support system and that of millions of species, and that global warming is only one of many symptoms of that assault,

(ix) peak oil, global warming and long-term sustainability pressures all require that we reduce energy needs and switch to renewable energy sources and many credible studies show that Australia can quickly and cost-effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions through dramatic improvements in energy efficiency and by increasing Australia’s investment in solar, wind and other renewable sources,

(x) the need for action is extremely urgent and the window of opportunity for avoiding severe impacts is rapidly closing, yet the obstacles to change are not technical or economic, they are political and social, and

(xi) democratic societies have responded successfully to dire and immediate threats, as was demonstrated in World War II and this is a last call for an effective response to global warming;

(b) thanks the delegates of this conference, including Professor Barry Brook, Sir Hubert Wilkins, Dr Geoff Davies, Dr Andrew Glikson and Mr Sebastian Clark for their efforts in drawing this warning to the Senate’s attention; and

(c) urges the Government to act on these conclusions.

Votes Not passed by a large majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Australian Democrats (100% turnout) 4 Yes 0 No
Lyn Allison Victoria Yes
Andrew Bartlett Queensland Yes
Andrew Murray WA Yes
Natasha Stott Despoja SA Yes
Australian Greens (100% turnout) 4 Yes 0 No
Bob Brown Tasmania Yes
Christine Milne Tasmania Yes
Kerry Nettle NSW Yes
Rachel Siewert WA Yes
Australian Labor Party (67% turnout) 0 Yes 18 No
Mark Bishop WA No
Carol Brown Tasmania No
Jacinta Collins Victoria No
Trish Crossin NT No
John Faulkner NSW No
Annette Hurley SA No
Steve Hutchins NSW No
Linda Kirk SA No
Joe Ludwig Queensland No
Kate Lundy ACT No
Gavin Marshall Victoria No
Anne McEwen SA No
Jan McLucas Queensland No
Claire Moore Queensland No
Kerry O'Brien Tasmania No
Ursula Stephens NSW No
Glenn Sterle WA No
Dana Wortley SA No
George Campbell NSW Absent
Kim Carr Victoria Absent
Stephen Conroy Victoria Absent
Chris Evans WA Absent
Michael Forshaw NSW Absent
Helen Polley Tasmania Absent
Nick Sherry Tasmania Absent
Ruth Webber WA Absent
Penny Wong SA Absent
Nigel Scullion NT Country Liberal Party Absent
John Hogg Queensland Deputy President No
Steve Fielding Victoria Family First Party Yes
Liberal Party (81% turnout) 0 Yes 26 No
Judith Adams WA No
Guy Barnett Tasmania No
Cory Bernardi SA No
Simon Birmingham SA No
Sue Boyce Queensland No
George Brandis Queensland No
David Bushby Tasmania No
Grant Chapman SA No
Richard Colbeck Tasmania No
Mathias Cormann WA No
Alan Eggleston WA No
Chris Ellison WA No
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells NSW No
Mitch Fifield Victoria No
Mary Fisher SA No
Gary Humphries ACT No
David Johnston WA No
Rod Kemp Victoria No
Ian Macdonald Queensland No
Stephen Parry Tasmania No
Kay Patterson Victoria No
Marise Payne NSW No
Michael Ronaldson Victoria No
Judith Troeth Victoria No
Russell Trood Queensland No
John Watson Tasmania No
Eric Abetz Tasmania Absent
Helen Coonan NSW Absent
Bill Heffernan NSW Absent
Ross Lightfoot WA Absent
Brett Mason Queensland Absent
Nick Minchin SA Absent
National Party (40% turnout) 0 Yes 2 No
Ron Boswell Queensland No
Barnaby Joyce Queensland No
Sandy Macdonald NSW Absent
Julian McGauran Victoria Absent
Fiona Nash NSW Absent
Alan Ferguson SA President No
Totals (75% turnout) 9 Yes – 48 No