Senator BOB BROWN (5:01 PM) —Just let me reiterate what Senator Milne said at the outset: 170-plus countries have ratified Kyoto, including China and India. The ignorance that comes from the government benches is sensational. It must be appalling to listeners to hear in the speeches that we have just heard from the government benches that that ignorance is replacing what we would expect: informed debate and action and the nous to recognise the business investment that would come out of Australia being among the Kyoto ratifiers. The conference in Montreal is for those countries that have ratified. Decent parts of the international community recognise that we owe it to coming generations to act now and not stand aside but become part of a global move to really tackle this problem. But Australia has stood out because it is deputy sheriff to the Bush administration. Like President Bush, Prime Minister Howard has decided that the oil and coal industries are more important than the interests of our grandchildren.

I congratulate Senator Milne on bringing this extremely critical motion before the Senate. Senator Milne, as Vice-President of the World Conservation Union and a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, will participate in the Montreal debate, taking part in constructive moves by the world to tackle this awesome problem which like a spectre hangs across the future of the whole of humanity and all our fellow species on this planet. Because of the perfidy of the government in signing the protocol but refusing to ratify, Senator Milne will be representing Australia at this conference, while our so-called minister for the environment, Senator Ian Campbell, will be outside and only able to observe and criticise from the margins.

As the world works out how it is going to deal with gas trading emissions coming out of Kyoto worth $3 trillion and a clean development mechanism with business, including another $3 trillion, Australia will be locked outside. Who will be talking about jobs, business, the environment and the future of this beautiful country—this wonderful sunny country the virtues and potential of which we should be extolling? We have to keep it on this side with the Greens, and our hopes have to go with Senator Milne to Montreal because this government has failed. It is locked outside and has observer status when it should be in the thick of things, representing the 20 million people of this country. (Time expired)

The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT (Senator Kirk)—Order! The time for discussion of the matter of public importance has expired.