Dr WOODRUFF (Franklin) - Like Ms O'Connor, I cannot sit here at this hour of night and go through this pathetic charade that this debate about an unstable government really matters, because what the Labor Party is doing here is actually offensive, given the issues that are in front of us.
Opposition members interjecting.
Dr WOODRUFF - I am fine, it is not about me, it is about why we are here. We are here to represent Tasmanians. We have spent all day talking about a matter of no confidence. We have spent all day talking about the Government and instability. It is all on the record. What is on the record, Ms White, is you on ABC radio when you made the comment that the Parliament now has real power and the potential for transparency.
Who would have thought a Labor Opposition Leader would say that about a minority government?
Ms White - What are you talking about?
Dr WOODRUFF - I am talking about what you were talking to Tasmanians about at a time where we have a minority government situation. The point is we have real opportunity here and what are you doing? You are whistling it away. You are wasting time. Let us talk about the issues that really matter, the issues that are before us.
Ms White - These are the Orders of the Day.
Mr SPEAKER - Order.
Dr WOODRUFF - If you want to talk about instability, let us talk about what is happening to the planet; what is happening to all of us. Let us talk about what the United Nations and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are really talking about - real instability. Let us not talk about playing in this House -
Opposition members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER - Order, the member for Franklin has the call, no-one else should be speaking.
Dr WOODRUFF - playing pathetic little Labor games where you are trying to take cheap shots. We spent all day talking about serious issues and at this time of night you want to talk about cheap shots.
Ms White - It does not matter what time it is.
Dr WOODRUFF - It actually matters that we are wasting time not talking about what is coming down the line in four, three or two years' time is we reach beyond 1.5 degrees and we reach into uncharted waters. We reach into a situation where we can expect the new highs we are seeing around the world and right now, in Asia, cities are suffering at 48-50 degrees Celsius. People are not surviving in those conditions. Human beings are cooking alive in cities and they are not only dying, they are leaving. They are not only dying and leaving, the supply chains are finishing. They are not only dying and leaving their cities in droves because they cannot survive there, but things are falling apart. Things are dismantling. We have an opportunity here to work together across the parliament, to really address the things that are seriously happening to Tasmania. The fact that right now there are people who cannot get into the Emergency Department. We cannot play games across the parliament. We have the opportunity to make changes to short-stay accommodation, to make changes to housing now. We do not have to talk.
Ms White - It is an MPI.
Dr WOODRUFF - Yes, it is an MPI and that is why you wasted it talking about nothing.
Dr Broad - Why are you going on then?
Dr WOODRUFF - You talked about absolutely nothing, because what is important is working together in an opportunity to make change, right? Instead, what are you going to do for the next two years? Are you going to throw rocks? Fair enough. A lot of rocks should be thrown, but you are going to throw rocks for two years. You are trying to not only bring down this Government, and we are right with you, but you are not putting anything propositional up.
We have an appalling situation in Health and Housing. What are you doing? What suggestions are on the table?
Dr Broad - You just voted for no confidence in the Government half an hour ago.
Dr WOODRUFF - Absolutely, I have no confidence in the Government, but I also have no confidence in what you are proposing as the alternative, which is to spend two years throwing rocks.
Dr Broad - You are so conflicted. You want to make this parliament work or not?
Mr SPEAKER - Order.
Dr WOODRUFF - We all know what the problems are. Get on the table and start putting something propositional up. We should all be in here fighting to keep mental health services in St Helens and we should all be in here fighting to make sure that people have housing, especially the Government. That is what you should be holding to account, not just talking again about things that we have already talked about.
We have a vicious cycle that is coming at us of heating and deforestation and drying. What are we doing as Tasmanians to prepare people who are desperate, who do not have a house? We are doing nothing. We should all have a look at ourselves and think what can we do in the next two years to promote what is good in Tasmania? We should stand up to bullies like Gil McLachlan, we bloody well should. We have to stand up to a lot more than Gil McLachlan. The Premier, Mr Rockliff, has folded so easily and done that disgusting deal and sold us away. Every single condition favours the AFL and it will keep us in debt for decades.
We have not even started to talk about Marinus yet; there is absolutely nothing on that. When you talk about the back of a beer coaster for the stadium, it is a napkin for Marinus. There is nothing, it is a charade, but we are prepared to jump in. It is a cargo-cult approach. We owe people so much more than this and we can be so much better than this.
We are on track for a terrible future that we are gifting our children. We can do something about that today - by ending native forest logging immediately. Let us take a leaf out of Victoria's Andrews Government's books. Maybe the Labor Party could get on board with that. Today Victoria ended native forest logging from at the end of this year. It is about time. We can do that too. We should do that because it is a gift to Tasmania. Give a transition for those communities, stop the unsustainable careers they have. It is going nowhere fast.
We have recently had the US Ambassador up one of the highest trees on the planet in one of the most beautiful carbon-rich forests. We should be exporting that and proud of it.