AT THE weekend, people from all corners of the country gathered in Canberra to discuss climate change; parents, grandparents, farmers, activists, local councillors, and representatives from community groups from the country and cities. More than 500 came to share their stories of how they are cutting emissions, and the ideas they have for the future.
And early this morning, as the gathering draws to a close, hundreds of Australians will encircle Parliament House to send a message to Kevin Rudd: that the Government's response to climate change isn't good enough.
So why have community groups from around the country felt compelled to organise such an event to protest against the Government's lack of action? Wasn't this the Government that was supposed to care about climate change? Wasn't this the Government that got elected promising Australians that they would take serious action? For all the talk, the reality is very different.
At the end of 2008, the Rudd Government showed its true colours on climate change. It announced a policy to cut Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by a paltry 5 per cent by 2020, when scientific experts and the international community have already agreed that reductions required by developed countries are in the order of at least 25-40 per cent by 2020, if not higher.
You could almost hear the groans of dismay from around the country. Surely this was reminiscent of the shallow policy responses we were used to seeing from John Howard's government, not what we expected from a supposedly enlightened Rudd Labor Government?
But perhaps even more distressing is that if the Government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is passed in the Federal Parliament later this year, it not only locks in the 5 per cent by 2020 target for Australia, but it commits each and every one of us to the same pathetically low figure. That's the dilemma of setting a national target using a trading system; the government will issue ''permits to pollute'' just that amount, no more, and no less. Not only are they legislating limits on carbon pollution, they are also legislating limits on cutting carbon pollution.
Here in the ACT, we are showing real leadership tackling climate change. The introduction of a feed-in tariff that will pay a premium price to households generating renewable energy has galvanised Canberrans into installing solar panels on their roofs, and attracted solar installers to the territory. As part of the commitment made by the ALP Government with the Greens after the ACT election, Canberra residents will be able to get energy efficient makeovers of their homes. In 2009, we will legislate a greenhouse gas reduction target for the ACT, and there is a clear acknowledgement we need to go further than 5 per cent. With targets in place and renewable energy investment increasing, the ACT will be well on the way to demonstrating how the climate challenge can be met.
However, there is a real risk that if the Federal Government's carbon reduction scheme is introduced in its current form it will free up permits for the big end of town to snap up at bargain prices so they can keep polluting. This is just one of the many ways in which the Rudd Government has geared the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme to suit its mates in the big polluting industries. Cash handouts of billions of dollars to the coal-fired power sector and other big polluters will also increase the financial load on householders
The Government must address this flaw if it is to keep faith with Australian public which wants to take action to reduce its own carbon footprint. Local action by local communities must count.
Canberrans, and people around Australia, have decided that they are ready for action on climate change. The committed people who have gathered in the nation's capital are the tip of that iceberg. They have articulated a desire for change, and a vision of how it can happen. Those gathered at Parliament House will send a clear message to the Rudd Government: we want a target based on science, that delivers a turnaround in Australia's emissions in the next five years, and that transforms our economy and the energy sector. We want Australia to be an international leader, not laggard, when we play our role in the global community's response to climate change.
All these things are possible. The question is whether the Federal Government is willing to deliver. If they can't, they should at least get out of the way and let those of us who do have the vision and courage get on with it.
Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury is the speaker of the ACT Legislative Assembly.
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