Mr BAYLEY (Clark) - Mr Speaker, I thank the other members for their contributions, and it is great to see a consensus in this House. We are in a time of dire risk and we do need to do more, I am hearing that across the Chamber. I am seeing lots of fingers being pointed at different people and, if we are going to point fingers, Mr Winter, we should have a look at your federal colleagues consistently and continually approving coal mines when they come up. I will leave that point there.
For me, personally, in 2020 when the bushfires were raging across eastern Australia that was a real wake-up call. We seem to have had a small hiatus where there were small stories across the globe when it came to climate change but it has come roaring back in 2023. It seems that this year we have had flood after fire after tornado after hurricane and it is clear that we have reached a tipping point. Dr Woodruff laid out very clearly some of those key issues more broadly and when you combine the climate crisis with the fact that we are also in a biodiversity crisis, it is truly alarming.
We need to take action to reduce emissions and we know that action works. Let us look at Tasmania's account. The only reason that Tasmania has got to net zero today in 2023 is because, in 2012, we protected 500 000 hectares of forest from being logged. We avoided the emissions from that logging and that is the benefit that we are living on today. We were more than zero prior to that, minister, and that got us to net zero but we need to do more. In that, I want to at least give a nod to minister Ferguson and I want to mention the Keeping Hobart Moving strategy that he recently released. I note that there are some relatively positive transport initiatives in there for active transport, particularly cycling and so forth, but it is in the glossy plan. We will be looking at the Budget to see whether these things get funded into the future but at least the vision is there and we have something to aim for.
Dr Woodruff - You are still in the 'hopeful phase'.
Mr BAYLEY - I will stay in the 'hopeful phase' for as long as I can, Dr Woodruff.
I noted in Question Time this morning, and the Premier has walked in so I will acknowledge his comment because he said it very clearly that climate change effects are well and truly being felt in Tasmania. That is a positive acknowledgement and it cannot be ignored.
On actions, this is the first time I have had the opportunity on my feet in and around this area to give a nod to Colette Harmsen, someone who has stood up to take action to protect forests, to protect us from climate change and has made the sacrifice of three months in jail for her work. She is working to protect forests in new national parks and reserves and that is to be commended. I acknowledge and salute Colette but I also want to make the point that, historically, we Greens and the conservation movement have campaigned to protect areas in the international parks and reserves and that is a good thing. We still do that but I want to acknowledge and recognise that even though they are in national parks, they are still not necessarily safe. They might be safe from logging, they might be safe from mining, but they are certainly not safe from climate impacts.
When it comes to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, just a couple of weeks ago, a retrospective statement of outstanding universal value was adopted by the World Heritage Committee that acknowledged the extraordinary values of that area, the Aboriginal heritage values and the natural values, and both of those are threatened by climate change.
When it comes to the incredible Aboriginal heritage that is scattered along our coastline, it is daily being threatened by climate change from coastal inundation, erosion and the like. We must take action to protect that. We need a new act, minister, to protect Aboriginal heritage but we need more than that, we need action on climate change so these can be protected. When it comes to natural values in our parks and reserves, we have phenomena like an increase in dry lightning. Climate change is increasing the prevalence of dry lightning strikes here in Tasmania. We have more drying behaviour. The soil dryness index in our parks is at tinder dry and we have disease infesting many of the areas. Even those areas protected in national parks and reserves are not free from climate change.
On other industries and values in Tasmania, I acknowledge the primary industries and the significant risks they face at the hands of climate change. Our primary producers - whether it is our farmers and whether it be drought, a lack of water from the rivers and irrigation schemes and the like, the smoke taint, for example, that our wineries and cherry growers and the like are struggling with. The fact that if we do not get those cold nights in spring we will not get the set of the cherry blossom to turn into fruit. There are really significant issues for our primary industries sector going forward. The tree farmers, plantation growers and the like: fire, gum beetle disease and the like significantly impacting on not only the health of plantations and the growth rates but sometimes the very viability of those plantations in the first place. Add to that the fact that we have greater risk of fire and we are truly in a concerning territory.
While I am not a fan of fish farmers and there are significant concerns when it comes to fish farming, I predict there are going to be significant problems going forward, whether it be in Okehampton Bay or Macquarie Harbour with warming waters. We saw mass fish kills in those areas a few years ago. That is deeply concerning, not only for those fish in that environment but also for the workers. Those companies are now owned by multinational companies and I doubt they are going to have the same kind of compassion, empathy and attachment to local jobs here in Tasmania. Who knows what they are going to do when we get those mass fish kills going forward? Climate is a real risk. We need to take action.
