On World Environment Day, we're racing against climate change

The Federal government is saying all the right things, acknowledging the threat and the need for action. But the action itself is still far too small to get us safely across the finish line.

In 1976, the government of the day showed the political will to tackle the problem they were faced with. Today, we need the Howard government to show similar commitment.

We must join the global effort to beat climate change and ratify the international treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, which Australia helped to design. And we must set out a national strategy to wean ourselves of our lazy reliance on polluting fossil fuels and replace them with clean energy sources like wind and sun.

Enough sun falls on our vast nation in a single hour to supply our energy needs for an entire year! Yet we still get 90 per cent of our energy from fossil fuels and less than 1 per cent from wind, solar or bio-energy sources.

Prime Minister Howard talks the talk: "The Commonwealth is committed to the development of renewable energy sources and the increased uptake of energy efficiency measures in Australia."

He has the opportunity to walk the walk this year with the review of his government's mandatory renewable energy target. The current 2 per cent target is too low to guarantee a truly gold medal-winning performance. But if it were raised to 10 per cent, it would help develop a world-class clean, renewable energy industry and put us on a winning track away from those dirty fossil fuels.

A 10 per cent renewable energy target would create more than 14,000 new jobs, boost regional development and encourage Australian ingenuity and initiative. It would also send out a positive message to the community and the world that Australia is serious about our climate reputation.

Our international sporting shame of 1976 was beaten with swift and decisive federal government action. Twenty-five years later, Australia is a world sporting leader because we decided to become a world leader! Because our government decided to make the best of our natural talents. Because Australians go into every competition intent on exceeding their personal bests.

We can and must do the same for climate change by adopting an effective and comprehensive plan for renewable energy.

Winning the race against climate change - that's the challenge John Howard must set for Australia this World Environment Day.