Kylea shares her week on the campaign trail

This week, as “one-in-a-thousand-year” rains wreaked destruction to the north, global climate scientists issued yet another warning that the world is running out of time to save ourselves from disaster.

The report is the latest in a series by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. And if the panel last year signalled a Code Red for the planet, this is Code Black: a frustrating, heartbreaking reminder of how governments have completely failed at enacting the change we need to secure a liveable climate for our children.

But now is the time for action, not dismay. As the IPCC report shows, the faster we cut emissions, the faster we stabilise the climate. This decade is our last best chance to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. And as Climate Energy Finance director Tim Buckley pointed out on Tea with Tink this week, the Federal Government is simply going in the wrong direction in its approach to energy markets, the economy and trade.

I’m working to change the climate in Canberra because I know we can and must do so much more to mitigate and prepare for the challenges ahead. If the past 3 years have shown us anything surely it is that talk of climate change coming is now outdated: Climate change is here. In acknowledging that, we enable ourselves to have meaningful and practical conversations about what we must do immediately - in terms of preparation and mitigation strategies, as well as what we do moving forward to try and reverse the devastating trends.

North Sydney, I know we can do better. Let's be the change we want to see.