10 December 2006

Peter Garrett MP
Member for Kingsford Smith
Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment, Heritage and the Arts

Peter Garrett: I very much welcome the tremendous opportunity Kevin Rudd has given me to serve Labor on an issue that I’ve worked a quarter of a century on: Australia’s environment. I particularly want to pay tribute to previous leader Kim Beazley who, in his policy development and in putting together the blueprints for Labor policy, identified climate change as one of the most critical issues we face. And I also want to specifically acknowledge the very fine effort that the previous Environment Shadow Anthony Albanese put in on working resolutely to profile the importance of climate change and the need for us to have a much more robust protection of the environment and particularly to highlight the Howard Government’s deficiencies on this policy area, particularly climate change where they have been sitting on their hands for far too long. Climate change represents one of the most significant and important issues that Australians must confront now and into the future. I want to work for Leader Rudd to make sure that we roll up our sleeves and do the very best that we can and I want to put the Howard Government on notice that it’s fiddling while Australia burns. No more processes, no more talk, no more taskforces. Get on with it Prime Minister if you’re serious about the environment, get on with it if you’re serious about climate change because Labor is serious about climate change. Labor is serious about making sure that this most significant environmental issue that we face is dealt with resolutely and as a matter of urgency.

Journalist: Peter Garrett, is Anthony Albanese being punished for supporting Kim Beazley?

Peter Garrett: Anthony Albanese did a fantastic job as Environment Spokesman and I notice that he’s holding onto and taking up, even more importantly, that issue of water. That will be an absolutely critical environment issue. He has responsibilities for infrastructure, he’s the Leader of Opposition Business in the House; he will continue to make an extremely important contribution as we go forward over the next eight months.

Journalist: You don’t see it as a demotion?

Peter Garrett: There’s no question at all that Anthony Albanese put climate change on the map, that the work he did in his environment portfolio was constructive and good work, and that he’s got additional responsibilities now. I know that he will fulfil them with great energy and great capacity.

Journalist: How are you going to work with him?

Peter Garrett: I will work with Anthony and everyone else in the Caucus and the Shadow Ministry very effectively and very co-operatively. That’s my great wish and I’m sure that’s what will happen.

Journalist: Have you done the hard yards within the Labor Party to get this position?

Peter Garrett: When I came into the Parliament I said I wanted to learn and listen, that I wanted to take time out to get to know how the party worked and how the parliament worked. I’ve done that for two years. I think it’s time now for me to step up to the next stage and I’m very much looking forward to bringing the long term passion and commitment I have to Australia’s environment, and the need for us to protect it urgently, into play as a Shadow in the Labor Party.

Journalist: Have you got the support of the Labor Party?

Peter Garrett: There’s no question about that. I hope I’ve got the support of the Labor Party, I know I have.

Journalist: What position on nuclear power are you taking to April’s national Labor conference?

Peter Garrett: Kim Beazley made clear and Kevin Rudd has too that John Howard’s options for Australia to meet its greenhouse gas emissions requirements, to make sure that they come down, is to wait ten or fifteen or twenty years and start a nuclear energy industry. This is an absolutely inappropriate response to the urgent problem of now. If we’re fair dinkum about climate change, if we’re fair dinkum about reducing greenhouse gas emissions then ratify Kyoto and get on with it. Put in place a trading system that operates nationally, stop introducing taskforces, stop flying the kite for nuclear and get on with the job Prime Minister. That’s what he has to do. No more blame games, no more delays, no more taskforces, no more discussion papers. The Prime Minister has to act on climate change because it is the most important issue we face. He hasn’t done that up to now.

Journalist: Are you going to set Labor in the opposite direction on nuclear power?

Peter Garrett: The criticality of climate change is of such an order it affects us in the environment, it affects us economically, it affects us socially; it’s a huge national and international issue and the solution to addressing climate change is not to build nuclear power plants in ten or fifteen or twenty years time. It’s to start reducing greenhouse gas emissions now. The Prime Minister has had eight years to put in place a national emissions trading scheme in carbon dioxide and he’s sat on his hands and done nothing. He bears the responsibility for the failure to act on climate change. The Prime Minister has sat on his hands and done nothing about climate change; he’s fiddled while Australia burns. He’s ignored Kyoto, he doesn’t provide support for the renewables sector that it so badly needs, and he won’t even take the necessary step of introducing Labor policy. Labor policy to have a national emissions trading scheme. All he’s done is create yet another taskforce. It’s nowhere near sufficient. Labor’s policy is there. The Prime Minister is very slow to take it up. It’s time he acted now.

Journalist: How are you going to convince Martin Ferguson and his like who actually want nukes on the agenda?

Peter Garrett: I think that all Australians recognise that we need a suite of energy measures that can help us deal with climate change and the huge problems that it poses for us, and that means looking sensitively and sensibly at the existing measures. It means clean coal, it means more renewables, it means gas and gas cogeneration, it means energy efficiency. It doesn’t mean that we have to invest large amounts of money for a future technology that produces radioactive waste. The solutions are there now. The only thing that’s lacking is the Prime Minister’s will to actually address climate change seriously. He’s sat on his hands for too long. Labor will work profoundly, vigorously and strongly on climate change.