QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS
Senator HODGINS-MAY (Victoria) (16:03): I move: That the Senate take note of the answer given by ministers to questions without notice asked by Australian Greens senators today. It speaks volumes that we had to use every tool in this place just to get the government to tell the truth. It's not just any truth but the urgent truth of our time—what is happening to our planet, and whose interests is this government representing?
We're disappointed but of course not surprised that the government caved into the fossil fuel industry in setting their 2035 targets. We're disappointed but not surprised that today we hear more spin from the minister. Minister, you said that the Prime Minister works for the Australian people, but it sure doesn't look like that.
When your government delays the release of climate risk information, when your first act in office was approving the north-west-shelf climate bomb that will keep burning until our kids are in their 50s and when you learn of a leaking LNG tank in Darwin and shrug it off as 'not our problem', it seems that there are plenty of people you're working for, but the Australian public aren't them.
The shareholders of Woodside and BHP—yes. And the boardrooms and donors who keep the revolving door spinning—absolutely. On the weekend I visited Inverloch, on Victoria's south coast, which is on the front lines of climate impacts.
Homes are uninsurable, families are watching the ocean creep closer and governments are still waving through new coal and gas projects while leaving ordinary people to bear the cost. Are you working for them, Minister? Today I met with Terra Roam, an activist fighting for climate action with every ounce of courage she has.
She's walked the length of this continent and undertaken hunger strikes. If more people in this chamber listened to voices like hers instead of those of their fossil fuel mates, we might have a fighting chance. But, no, Labor continues to put profits before people, before communities and before our precious ecosystems.
Last week they sold out critical minerals to fuel the American war machine. This week they're pushing environment reforms that please only the big polluters. It's time to stop working for the lobbyists and to start working for the people who actually elected you.
Tell the truth about the climate crisis, the risks that we face and the choices that are still before us.