Climate Change

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:19): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Water. Did the minister tell an audience at a Liberal fundraising event last night that he was sick of being hounded by the Greta Thunbergs of South Australia? With your leave, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Dr CLOSE: The opposition has been advised that the minister told an audience at the FutureSA event at Rydges hotel that as environment minister he was sick of being hounded by the Greta Thunbergs of South Australia.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (14:20): I may have said something like that, absolutely—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —but I believe I was making a comparison between the practical response to the great challenges of climate change and the poster-waving activism which doesn't lead to outcomes, such as gluing oneself to Flinders Street outside the headquarters of Santos or stringing oneself up in Victoria Square, as some activists did recently. I also, I think, made the point that practical action and adaptation and—

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Playford!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —reduction of emissions and taking that action in a serious way was so much more important than simply posting a video on YouTube or liking a Twitter post or a Facebook post. My comparison actually included saying in my contribution last night how South Australians should be proud of the bipartisan policy platform that had been forged since around about 2005. I talked about how John Howard and Mike Rann worked together to really set up the framework for our significant transition towards renewables in this state. I talked about—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: I talked about how upon coming to government—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —in 2018, our government took many of the policy settings that the previous government had forged ahead with and had built upon them—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for West Torrens!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —not because of political differences but because innovation and the passage of time led us to be able to take many of the foundations that the previous government had set up to the next levels. So, absolutely—

The Hon. Z.L. Bettison interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Ramsay!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: I often draw the distinction between activism and poster waving and virtue signalling and icons and slogans—which the deputy leader is very familiar with—and practical outcomes such as not only the transition to renewable energy production, the transition and innovation we are seeing in our transport system, the significant transition that we are seeing, led largely by the Minister for Primary Industries, around the agricultural sector, moving towards different land use and the like, but also adaptation to our city: the organisation Green Adelaide is setting up Adelaide with a more resilient canopy, greener streets, looking at ways to cool our city, using water in smart and efficient ways to create livability in this city.

We know that the climate is changing, and we have to, I guess, admit to that, and then while doing our bit in terms of global leadership and innovation we also need to build success around how our city adapts, not just Adelaide but our regional cities as well. I make no apology for saying that activism is not something that I have a great deal of interest in. I am much more focused on this government's practical approach to climate change and building on what the previous government did.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: I think there is a fairly bipartisan approach to this policy agenda in South Australia and I am proud of it.