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senate vote 2024-05-15#4
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2024-07-03 16:10:04
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Title
Matters of Urgency — Great Barrier Reef- Matters of Urgency - Great Barrier Reef - National emergency
Description
<p class="speaker">Catryna Bilyk</p><p>I inform the Senate that the President has received the following letter, dated 15 May 2024, from Senator McKim:</p>-
- The majority voted against a [motion](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2024-05-15.155.2) introduced at the request of Tasmanian Senator [Nick McKim](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/tasmania/nick_mckim) (Greens), which means it failed.
- ### Motion text
- > *That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:*
- >
- > *A marine heatwave that triggered mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef has devastated significant World Heritage habitat and wildlife, impacted communities and the economy, and should be treated like other extreme weather events and declared a national emergency under the National Emergency Declaration Act 2020 and Labor should stop opening coal and gas mines, which will make the climate crisis worse.*
<p class="italic">Pursuant to standing order 75, I give notice that today the Australian Greens propose to move "That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:</p><p class="italic">A marine heatwave that triggered mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef has devastated significant World Heritage habitat and wildlife, impacted communities and the economy, and should be treated like other extreme weather events and declared a national emergency under the National Emergency Declaration Act 2020 and Labor should stop opening coal and gas mines, which will make the climate crisis worse."</p><p>Is the proposal supported?</p><p class="italic"> <i>More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having risen in their places—</i></p><p>With the concurrence of the Senate, the clerks will set the clock in line with the informal arrangements made by the whips.</p> <p class="speaker">Peter Whish-Wilson</p><p>At the request of Senator McKim, I move:</p><p class="italic">That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:</p><p class="italic">A marine heatwave that triggered mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef has devastated significant World Heritage habitat and wildlife, impacted communities and the economy, and should be treated like other extreme weather events and declared a national emergency under the <i>National Emergency Declaration Act 2020</i> and Labor should stop opening coal and gas mines, which will make the climate crisis worse.</p><p>On 16 April, nearly a month ago, the Prime Minister flew into Gladstone and stood next to the Minister for Resources, Madeleine King, celebrating the thousandth shipment of LNG cargo across the Great Barrier Reef. What was extraordinary about this was that it was exactly one day after NOAA, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, out of the US, had announced the fourth and biggest mass coral bleaching in our planet's history. It was also significant that the Prime Minister was at Gladstone because, on that very day, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority were about to release their aerial surveys of the bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, which was absolutely devastating.</p><p>I visited Gladstone not long after and went out to Heron Island with scientists to see and bear witness myself to what had happened on the Great Barrier Reef, and it struck me as I was leaving on the ferry—our little boat navigating its way through 40 coal ships on our way to a Barrier Reef fighting for its life—that the Prime Minister that day, when he stood in Gladstone, didn't mention coral bleaching and didn't mention what was happening just kilometres off the coast where he was standing with the resources minister, spruiking the exact cause of the decline of the Great Barrier Reef.</p><p>It got me thinking: how can we elevate this issue so that Australians understand the seriousness of what is happening not just on our reefs and not just on the Barrier Reef but on temperate reefs off my coastline and on coral reefs all around the world? I wondered why this marine heatwave, which is caused by warming oceans and caused by the burning of fossil fuels and rising emissions, hasn't been declared a national emergency. If this were a bushfire burning for thousands of kilometres along the Queensland coast, destroying half the World Heritage habitat on that coast—with the impacts on the creatures that rely on that habitat—and causing devastation to local communities and businesses, this would have been declared a national emergency.</p><p>I encourage senators to go to the National Emergency Declaration Act 2020, where it clearly talks about this being an important tool to outline key matters of national environment significance—where 'the emergency has caused, is causing or is likely to cause nationally significant harm in Australia'. If you go to the definitions of 'nationally significant harm', it clearly says 'harm to the life or health of animals or plants', and part (iv) is 'harm to the environment'.</p><p>I have no doubt, after what I saw and from the reports that have come in from scientists on the Great Barrier Reef, that this will be the biggest and most devastating mass coral bleaching and mortality event for corals that we have seen on the reef, and it will only get worse. How can this not be a national emergency? The Greens want this declared a national emergency; we have written to the Prime Minister asking him to instruct the Governor-General to do so. And the reason is simple. If Australians don't know what they're about to lose and are losing, they won't fight for it and they won't vote for it. From what I've seen in this place from the respective governments, including this government, they're doing pretty much everything they can to cover up the seriousness of this crisis, of this national emergency, including on the world stage at the World Heritage UNESCO in-danger-listing talks, which are coming up in the months ahead—and we'll get into that some other time.</p><p>I deeply ask senators to consider what is at stake here and to let the Australian people know so that we can act. You're going to hear from lots of people in the next half an hour who will say they're doing what they can to save the reef, or they'll completely deny that there's a problem. But there is, and only we in places like this can fix it. <i>(Time expired)</i></p> <p class="speaker">Susan McDonald</p><p>I am tired. I am tired of the Greens' hysterics. I'm tired of this crazy binary situation that they give, where it is coal and gas or save the planet. I'm tired of them presenting themselves as being soft, cuddly tree-huggers. For the people, particularly in Brisbane, who voted for the Greens at the last election, I think we need to be discussing what they're really all about, because their choice is binary. It is a choice between using the best resources in the world from Australia, having human ingenuity and practicality, jobs and food and human lives, and what the Greens offer, which is to shut everything down. It is their policies that are driving up the cost of living. It is their interventions in trying to stop ordinary coal and gas fired power. It is their interventions that threaten our geopolitical stability by trying to intervene in the gas market and stop supplies to our near allies. This is an incredibly serious discussion, and we have got to stop having some sort of binary conversation that does not protect the human condition.</p><p>Of the UN sustainability goals, the first three are about protecting people's rights to shelter, food and their way of life, and the last three are about climate change. But, if you listen to the Greens, there is no place for humans in this world. It is important that we are clear about this. The policies of the Greens will mean that your kid, no matter if they're working in a supermarket or as a tradie, getting an apprenticeship or going into a high-tech critical minerals processing facility—none of them will have a job, because of energy policy being driven by the Greens. There will be less affordable food and fewer real jobs. It isn't a fantasy world that we live in, and Australians know that. They're the ones that are struggling with the cost of living and with rising food costs, all being driven up because of this rushed renewable expansion. We have to be clear that our resources raise the standard of living around the world. They bring people out of poverty.</p><p>The three things that Australian resources do, whether they be coal or gas, are that they provide energy security to these countries, provide geopolitical stability—</p> <p class="speaker">Catryna Bilyk</p><p>I'm sorry, Senator McDonald. Please resume your seat for one moment. Senator Whish-Wilson, do you have a point of order?</p> <p class="speaker">Peter Whish-Wilson</p><p>I have a point of order on relevance. Senator McDonald hasn't even mentioned the Great Barrier Reef or coral bleaching yet, and she's more than 3½ minutes into her time. That's what this motion is about.</p> <p class="speaker">Catryna Bilyk</p><p>Senator Whish-Wilson and Senator McDonald, it's not a debate across the chamber. I don't think that was a relevant point of order, Senator Whish-Wilson. Senator McDonald, please continue.</p> <p class="speaker">Susan McDonald</p><p>Thank you very much. One of the three things that the high-quality Australian resources provide is energy security to other nations. It is about geopolitical stability to our trading countries and our allies, and it is, interestingly, about lower emissions, because, when Australia doesn't fill this role, then the rest of the world is served with coal from Indonesia and gas from other parts of the world whose emissions are not as low as ours. So Australia has a responsibility to do these things, but most importantly we have a responsibility to Australians. The three biggest royalty streams of corporate taxpayers and contributors to PAYG tax in this country are the iron ore, coal and gas industries. The only thing that has changed about those in the last few years is the order.</p><p>There is not a replacement for that income stream. It certainly won't be bringing in solar panels and wind turbines from offshore. That will not replace the jobs in those industries.</p> <p class="speaker">Peter Whish-Wilson</p><p>Can you get onto the Barrier Reef soon?</p> <p class="speaker">Susan McDonald</p><p>This is an incredibly serious issue—</p> <p class="speaker">Catryna Bilyk</p><p>Senator Whish-Wilson!</p> <p class="speaker">Susan McDonald</p><p>I will not be drawn into the—</p> <p class="speaker">Catryna Bilyk</p><p>Senator Whish-Wilson! Senator Whish-Wilson, I've already called you to order twice. Please desist. Please continue, Senator McDonald.</p> <p class="speaker">Susan McDonald</p><p>For that reason, it is important that, for those Australians who care about ensuring that we continue to have the first-world lifestyle that we enjoy and for those Australians who believe in human ingenuity and innovation, we fend off the hysterics of the Greens and we be very clear about who is going to provide a future for Australians—a future for our young people.</p> <p class="speaker">Nita Green</p><p>I'm always very pleased to have the opportunity to talk about the Great Barrier Reef and what it means to the people of Queensland when I get a chance to speak in this chamber, although I do acknowledge that, every time I get the chance to do so, there are stunts like this from the Greens, which I don't think are the way to progress protection of our Great Barrier Reef.</p> <p class="speaker">Peter Whish-Wilson</p><p>It's the only way to get you to talk about the reef.</p> <p class="speaker">Nita Green</p><p>Senator Whish-Wilson, I know that you want to sit there and intimidate me and speak over me, but I'm going to stand here and speak about the facts and speak about the work that I do in my community. You can shout over me all you like, but it is not going to help. What is going to help is standing here and talking about the facts.</p> <p class="speaker">Catryna Bilyk</p><p>Can you resume your seat for a moment, Senator Green. Senator Whish-Wilson, you were heard in silence. Please give the same respect to other senators. I don't want to have to keep calling you. Thank you, Senator Green.</p> <p class='motion-notice motion-notice-truncated'>Long debate text truncated.</p>-
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