Firstly, I would
like to acknowledge the Elders of the Traditional Owners of this
land past and present.
Citizens of the
Planet, and Fellow Australians.
Australians come
from all the lands on Earth, and I have come here from the islands of Kiribati, in the mid most heart of the Pacific Ocean.
Kiribati was once the British Colony of the Gilbert Islands, Kiribati is the first nation upon which the sun
rises in the morning, the first to see the new day, and now among the first
Nations which include its sister Tuvalu, to be lost to Climate
Change.
For the people
never heard of Kiribati
before, it consists of 33 atolls, averaging only two metres above sea level. It
has a population of over 112,000 people.
I was born on the island of Tarawa in a village called Betio.
During the 2nd
World War, Betio was bombarded with tons of bombs such that Coconut trees and
other vegetation were totally destroyed, but replanting took place, the trees
grew back, and the people survived.
It was a situation
brought upon our people by others. It wasn’t
our war, but traumatized our nation.
But now the people
of Kiribati
are finding themselves in a new war of a different and more devastating kind. A
war that threatens to eliminate our homeland from the face of the Earth. Again, a war not of our making, but brought
upon us by others.
Because the
average height of the islands is only 2 metres above sea level, the rising
oceans have now led to salt water seeping into the ground water, making it
undrinkable, and poisoning the trees, whose roots have depended on it for thousands
of years. Scientists are predicting that it will probably take 50 years or less
for the islands to be uninhabitable.
I’ve seen dead
coconut trees, their tops completely missing, so that they looked like twisted
Telegraph poles on a desert landscape. But they weren’t just coconut trees. These
trees were the framework and walls of our buildings, the mats on our floors,
the blinds on our windows, the decorations on our dancing costumes, and a primary
source of food; then there were dead pandanus trees, which not only represented
a food source, but the thatch on the roofs of our houses, the mats on our
floors, and the costumes of our dancers.
Our President
reluctantly plans the closure of his country finding options for people to live
as dignified human beings elsewhere in the world.
When the time
comes for I-Kiribati people to be relocated they want to do so on merit and
with dignity.
Education of
children in Kiribati
schools is going to need to prepare children for the fact that in their adult
life, they might need to work and live overseas.
To quote the
President of Kiribati, Anote Tong, the people of Kiribati will not go to the world
as refugees, but as World Citizens.
They have a right
to live on this Planet which cannot be denied them by climate change. There
needs to be special laws passed in all
the nations on Earth including Australia, and enforced by the United Nations
that automatically allow people from countries, wiped off the map by sea levels
to live on dry land somewhere as a right that overrides point systems.
For what people
may say about human rights and the like, the most basic human right must surely
be the right to live at all.
But abandoning the
nation of Kiribati
is a very last resort. There are projects underway to preserve the islands by
planting mangroves, developing salt resistant plants, building sea walls and
boosting rain water harvesting.
Fellow Australians
and Citizens of the Planet, the world is at war, and the enemy lies not within
in the melting ice caps and the rising seas, but within ourselves.
The trenches
within which this battle must be fought do not lie between the borders of
nations, or between the major political parties or their factions, but within
the heart of every human being on this planet.
During the two
devastating wars of the last century, extra taxes were paid, war bonds were
purchased, and in too many cases the ultimate sacrifice of lives, and loved
ones was made, and made willingly by people the world over to defend their
lands from destruction.
We are not being
asked to sacrifice as much as our grandparents did during World War 2, yet the
danger we face as millions of people are dislocated around the world and
nations lost forever is potentially far more devastating.
And in the final
analysis, combating climate change is a moral responsibility, for if we would
not want our country to disappear from the face of the earth through the
actions of others, so ought we to strive, to ensure, that the countries of
others do not disappear from the face of the Earth because of our failure to do what is right.
To quote President
Anote Tong of Kiribati
this problem requires a New World Order, which is based on compassion, humanity,
and a long term vision.
Let us human
beings the world over accept the moral responsibility, face the challenges,
make the necessary sacrifices. And at the end of the day it really doesn’t
matter how you believe Climate Change is occurring, whether by the actions of
man, or nature, because the fact is, it is really happening and its impact on
my homeland and other people around the world must be addressed.
Further there are
long term benefits to Mankind in less reliance on fossil fuel, and reduction of
carbon emissions.
For Australia to do
nothing while we wait for the world to act, is no different to us as
individuals, refusing to reduce our own carbon foot prints until every body
else does.
This is very
foolish it is time for us to lead and set examples.
Finally, my fellow
Australians, who come from all the lands on Earth, and have cousins in all the
nations of the Earth, it is time to acknowledge the reality of the human
family, and that The Earth is but One Country and humankind its citizens.
That is the
philosophy; that is the outlook; from which will come the political will to
address the issue of climate change.
We must accept
responsibility ourselves, not wait for our leaders who have let us down, but
lead the way ourselves and make it absolutely clear to the members of our parliament that Climate Change
is a paramount issue in the hearts and minds of our people.
I thank you for
your attention and wish all of you a good day.
