Matters of Urgency — Climate Change

Slade Brockman I inform the Senate that at 8.30 am today, 25 proposals were received. In accordance with standing order 75, the question of which proposal would be submitted to the Senate was determined by lot. As a result, I inform the Senate that the letter from Senator Rice proposing a matter of urgency be chosen: That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency: The mining and burning of coal, oil and gas is the primary cause of global heating and is causing more frequent and more intense floods, heatwaves, fires; and that to protect lives and livelihoods, no new coal, oil and gas projects should be started in Australia. Is the proposal supported? More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having risen in their places— I understand that informal arrangements have been made to allocate specific times to each of the speakers in today's debate. With the concurrence of the Senate, I shall ask the clerks to set the clock accordingly. Peter Whish-Wilson At the request of Senator Rice, I move That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency: The mining and burning of coal, oil and gas is the primary cause of global heating and is causing more frequent and more intense floods, heatwaves, fires; and that to protect lives and livelihoods, no new coal, oil and gas projects should be started in Australia. Don't take my word for this. This is what the science tells us. This is what the IPCC—the panel of climate change experts which comprises a couple of hundred of the world's most eminent climate scientists—tells us. It tells us that, on our current trajectory with our current 'business as usual' scenarios, this planet is on a three- to four-degree warming trajectory this century. Entire parts of our earth—our home—will be uninhabitable at a three- to four-degree warming scenario, not just because of drought, a lack of rainfall, pests and diseases but also because of extreme weather events. We think no