Melbourne climate change forum

I spoke at a climate change forum on Sunday. There were candidates from four other parties represented. The organisers were very keen to know about greenhouse gas reduction targets, particularly our target for 2050. Generally, there was probably too much focus on targets and not enough on solutions.

I spent a bit of time talking about converting to renewable energy, but the focus of my speech was on energy efficiency. It's one aspect of the climate change problem that is rarely discussed - and yet energy efficiency is perhaps the cheapest and easiest way to make significant cuts in our emissions.

There's no national strategy on energy efficiency. But hopefully that will soon change. The Democrats recently introduced a bill in the federal parliament to set up a special scheme to promote energy efficient appliances, buildings and equipment. It has been referred to a Senate committee.

Why is it that we can still buy appliances with a one- or two-star energy efficiency rating? Why is it not mandatory for all new buildings to have double-glazed windows? And why do we not have a hybrid car industry in Australia? We need national leadership on these issues.

The federal government's Climate Clever advertising campaign is about about shifting the blame for our climate change failure from the government to individuals. It's also about giving the impression that the government is taking the challenge seriously - but it isn't.

We've seen some great green initiatives in business, and we've seen some great initiatives at the local and state level of government. The main player letting us down is the federal government.

I organised a Democrats movie night last night and we saw the 11th Hour, which is a new film about climate change. The main message is - now is the time to act. One way to act on climate change is through the vote.