A thank you to our political leaders

I’ve just finished reading a note from Greg Combet thanking Environment Victoria for its constructive and generous contributions to the climate debate in Australia. It was kind of him to recognise our contributions and to demonstrate that while environmental advocates and political leaders might not always agree, with mutual respect we can work together to drive transformative public good outcomes like the carbon price.

Climate change is a serious problem and we need serious leaders to solve it. We’ve seen that leadership in Julia Gillard, Wayne Swan, Greg Combet, Rob Oakeshott, Tony Windsor and the Greens – all members of the Multiparty Climate Change Committee that worked through their extreme differences in the best interests of the nation. To them we say thank you. With so many now taking their leave of politics, we hope and trust that Prime Minister Rudd, Tony Abbott and future leaders build on their legacy and transform Australia into a low carbon and vibrant country that is safe for all living things.

It’s often noted that if today’s generation allows greenhouse pollution to continue unchecked, future generations will look back at us and ask ‘what on earth were they thinking?’ Perhaps, if our political leaders continue to drive serious action on climate change, our kids will look back and see the carbon price for the historical reform that it is. It’s not everything we need but it’s the foundation for the future.

While Environment Victoria remains non-partisan in every way, we felt that it would be remiss of us to allow those that drove this historical reform to leave politics without our thanks and deep respect.