Public Finance and Audit (Fossil Fuel Sponsorships) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 16 October 2024.)

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (17:23): I rise to speak on the Public Finance and Audit (Fossil Fuel Sponsorships) Amendment Bill, and in so doing I want to commend the leadership of my colleague the Hon. Tammy Franks, who has put this forward and who really, I think, has belled the cat on some of the very concerning associations between some of our state's big events and fossil fuel companies. It is of serious concern to the Greens to see fossil fuel companies being able to hijack sporting events as a way of earning their social licence and one example of this that is, of course, of great concern to the Greens is the Tour Down Under.

The Tour Down Under showcases South Australia to the world and there is no question that it is a boost to our local economy. It has the added benefits of promoting healthy lifestyles and sustainable modes of transport, yet the Tour Down Under's major naming rights partner since 2010 has been Santos, a fossil fuel company.

It is appalling that a major cycling event, which should be about strengthening our state's green credentials, is being sponsored by a fuel company—a polluting fossil fuel company. We know that fossil fuels are not just bad for our environment—and the Tour Down Under is actually about promoting green transport—but are also bad for community health. Again, the Tour Down Under is about promoting active transport and promoting cycling.

This association is of serious concern and Santos' sponsorship of this high-profile event buys considerable social licence. It allows the company to greenwash its polluting activities and paint itself as being community minded. Indeed, this is an issue that I raised during my time on the Adelaide City Council. It has been a long-term issue of concern for the Greens. Surely, the South Australian Tourism Commission can find an alternative sponsor for this event. Why does it have to be Santos? It is not appropriate.

An Australian Conservation Foundation report revealed back in 2018 that 19 gas projects and facilities in Australia accounted for 81 million tonnes of climate pollution. Santos is part of that. Add this to the emissions from gas-fired power stations and our role as the world's leading exporter of liquefied natural gas and it is clear that Australian gas is a major driver of climate disruption.

In October of 2018, the IPCC special report warned that to keep global warming under 1.5° we must end our reliance on fossil fuels as quickly as possible. Expansion of the gas industry is simply incompatible with this target. Why on earth is the Tour Down Under, our state's premier green event, being powered by Santos in this way? Why are we allowing that brand association?

I urge the Malinauskas government to think differently about this. This is an opportunity for the government to put their money where their mouth is and to actually urge partnerships that are going to further the South Australian brand. Dumping fossil fuel sponsorship would show real climate leadership and I know that the government is keen for South Australia to host the COP. If they are serious about that, can they really justify having this association with Santos? Are they really serious about having the COP in SA when Santos is the major sponsor of the Tour Down Under? That is a joke.

They really have to put their money where their mouth is. A state that prides itself on its environmental and renewable energy credentials should be a leader in ending fossil fuel sponsors and this would set a precedent for other jurisdictions in Australia and across the world. Industries that are fuelling the climate crisis should have no place in sports.

This is not just an issue for us in South Australia. In the UK, several arts institutions have dumped fossil fuel sponsors, including the Tate, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and the National Galleries of Scotland. The Edinburgh Science Festival has also imposed a blanket ban on sponsorship deals with fossil fuel companies. In Western Australia there is now growing public pressure for Fringe World to end its sponsorship with Woodside and for the Perth Festival to dump Chevron.

One has to question why fossil fuel companies are so desperate to associate themselves with popular events. They are doing it because we know that they are losing social licence. They are doing it because they know that the jig is up, that people across our country are recognising that we are in the middle of a climate crisis and that we have to do something, and no amount of airbrushing and corporate spin is going to change that reality.

Another reason for South Australia to disassociate with fossil fuel companies is the direct impact that global heating is already having on the Tour Down Under, which will only be intensified as the climate crisis worsens. In 2020, the Vicious Cycle report, which was commissioned by the Australian Conservation Foundation, revealed the impact of the climate emergency on cycling, and in particular on the Tour Down Under. It concluded that the impact of climate change on the event and on the sport in general is already evident, with extreme heat threatening the safety of participants and resulting in race disruptions—and, of course, all South Australians have been dealing with extreme heat and record temperatures over February.

Held in mid-summer in a state that is highly vulnerable to climate impact, such as heatwaves and bushfires, the future of the Tour Down Under is being, ironically, threatened by fossil fuel companies like Santos. These are the companies that are driving the climate crisis and these are the sorts of companies that are making events like the Tour Down Under less viable and sustainable into the future.

I should say, of course, that the Tour Down Under is not the only event to have questionable associations. Who could forget LIV Golf? I was not one of the members clamouring to join the Premier at his press conference on the weekend, and that is because LIV Golf, the tournament, is backed by Saudi Arabia and its public investment fund. The tournament has been widely criticised because of the Saudi government's appalling record on human rights but also its direct ties to the fossil fuel industry—the oil industry.

Saudi Arabia, largely through the public investment fund, has spent billions of dollars on sportswashing by funding sporting tournaments, events like LIV Golf, to distract from its dire catalogue of human rights abuse. I will not cover that ground today because that is beyond the scope of this bill but it is worth noting while the public investment fund is not itself an oil company, its finances are substantially drawn from the major stake in Saudi Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia.

In February 2022, Saudi Arabia's crown prince transferred about 4 per cent of Aramco shares, worth about $80 billion, into the public investment fund, which he also chairs, so that is of significant concern.

The PRESIDENT: I thought you were not going to go down this path.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: Sorry?

The PRESIDENT: I thought you were not going to go down this path because it is not relevant to the current bill we are talking about—

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: Well, the issue of human rights—

The PRESIDENT: —which I very much appreciated at the time, but it did not last long.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: Mr President, the issue of human rights may not be directly related to the bill but the relationship between fossil fuels and the Saudi government is worth highlighting, along with the myriad human rights abuses that their—

The Hon. T.A. Franks: That's why they need to sportswash.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: That is right. As the honourable member has pointed out, this is why—

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Ms Franks, interjections are out of order.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: —companies like this seek to associate themselves with those that have some level of popularity: so that they can gain favour, so that they can build some level of social licence. According to the Climate Accountability Institute, the oil and gas produced by Aramco, linked to the Saudi government and LIV Golf, was responsible for roughly 4.8 per cent of global emissions in 2018, and about 4.3 per cent of total atmospheric accumulation since 1965. That is the largest of any single firm.

It is estimated that in 2019, Saudi Aramco plans to produce and sell the equivalent of 27 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide between 2018 and 2030. This is an enormous amount, equivalent to 4.7 per cent of the total carbon budget that the IPCC estimated the entire world had left in 2018 for a 50 per cent chance of meeting the Paris Agreement's 1.5° goal.

These are the companies the Malinauskas Labor government is rolling out the red carpet to, without any consideration about human rights, without any consideration of the terrible effects on our climate and on our state brand. Let's not forget that some years ago now one of the first acts of the Malinauskas government was to declare a climate emergency here in this place. I remember that debate, and the Greens welcomed that. But, emergency requires action. It is time for the Malinauskas government to show some leadership here and to dump Santos and to dump this association with fossil fuel companies, and to ensure that our state's big events have sponsors that appropriately reflect the values of our state and our mission to take the climate crisis seriously.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (17:35): I rise to speak on this bill, and it should not be a surprise that I will be opposing the bill. Seriously, the Greens live in absolute fantasy land when it comes to issues like fossil fuel, coal, gas and whatever. They have no concept of what would happen to our economy, even the world economy, when you try to do away with coal or gas. What will happen, of course, if this ever happened or eventuated, is that the cost of your power bills will go smack through the roof. It is quite clear that renewables—wind and solar—will not be enough to provide the energy needs of this country 24/7. It is intermittent power. It has to blow, the sun has to shine and it is not 24/7.

We will be having gas for years to come because it has to be part of our energy mix if we are to have dispatchable power and power that can ensure that industry continues, that domestic use will not be affected, that there will not be blackouts that people have to endure because the renewables cannot even provide those.

The Hon. T.A. Franks: Coal is called brownouts.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Brownouts—whatever—but they will be blackouts. We know that other countries are now having to go back to coal, gas and nuclear. Should the Coalition be fortunate enough to win power and if they press ahead with their plans for nuclear power plants, the first of which will be built at Port Augusta, what are the Greens going to do then? They just whinge and want to shut down an opportunity for Australia to be sustainable when it comes to its energy needs.

Federal Labor at the moment under the current energy minister will probably send this country broke if Labor end up returning. They want to spend billions upon billions on more wind turbines and other renewable energy and try to rid the country of coal and gas, when it is quite clear that we are going to be reliant on those fossil fuels for years to come.

There is no way we will ever do away with those because, if you do that, your economy will suffer, industry will suffer, consumers will suffer, because it will just put up the cost of power—simple as that. It is just one of those crazy, ideological dreams of the Greens, who really do not even take into consideration the miniscule amount of carbon dioxide produced in Australia compared with the world—I think it is less than 1 per cent of the total emissions. Nowhere did I hear the Hon. Rob Simms talk about pollution and the use of fossil fuels that are causing most of the damage to our climate. He has not mentioned China. Did you mention China?

The Hon. R.A. Simms: It wasn't relevant.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: It is very relevant because they are the ones—and also India, because China is the one that also buys our coal and burns it and causes damage to the environment but, no, they do not mention them. It is all about the small amount that we burn off, which is outrageous. I would like to invite the Hon. Robert Simms one day—not me, but I hope the Hon. Tom Koutsantonis will one day invite the Hon. Rob Simms and the Hon. Tammy Franks to take a trip to Moomba and the Santos gasworks up there and have a look at the fantastic initiative they have incorporated there. It is a multibillion dollar investment in carbon capture. They have spent a hell of a lot of money in technology that is designed to reduce carbon emissions. It is incredible technology, and it is working.

Briefly, I think the Hon. Russell Wortley was up there with me when we went a couple of years ago. I think we were all very impressed at what it is going to do. What it does is when they burn off gas or whatever, they capture that and then it gets pumped back into the disused wells and, so far, apparently it is very effective. You have to give credit to Santos for putting billions of dollars into that research and development and getting that carbon capture program underway.

It irks me when I see the Greens attack a great South Australian company like Santos, and what Santos has contributed to the state and our economy, and will continue to do so. You have the Greens who want to shut them down which is just absolutely outrageous. It is incredible. I welcome their sponsorship of major events because I do not see the renewable companies putting any money into sport sponsorship, putting it into community projects either in the metropolitan area or in the regions. A couple of weeks ago—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: You don't, do you?

The PRESIDENT: Order! Stay focused.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: They do not put money into their communities, these renewable energy companies, these energy generators. I was in Burra a couple of weeks ago and then in Port Augusta and elsewhere where there are massive wind farms built on either Crown land or council land, and they do not even pay rates. They do not even contribute anything to the community and yet the hundreds of millions of dollars in profit that they generate do not go back to the community; they go offshore in profits. These renewable energy companies do not really have the interests of South Australians or their communities at heart.

As I said, Santos is a proud South Australian company that gives back to its community and will continue to give back to its community. I do not need to say not only how important it is but what a very successful event the Tour Down Under is and has been because of the sponsorship that is derived from Santos. Who will fill the breach? The Greens have not even suggested where the money will come from if you lose that significant sort of sponsorship. Who is going to put that money in? Are the Greens going to do that? It is just outrageous.

Again, it shows you the corporate generosity of a company like Santos putting back into the South Australian community. We are always going to have gas, we are always going to be cooking with gas. I hate to see the day when I cannot use my Q barbecue because I cannot buy any gas, because the cost of gas will go through the roof. It is already very expensive.

There being a disturbance in the gallery:

The PRESIDENT: The gallery will remain silent, or you will leave, okay? The Hon. Mr Pangallo, I am sure you are about to conclude.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: As I said previously, gas and coal will continue to be part of Australia's energy mix because we require that reliability. The problem with these people who are opposed to fossil fuels is: what alternative will we have? Are you going to continue building and erecting ugly wind turbines and solar farms that can only operate intermittently when either the wind blows or the sun shines? We need to have 24/7 dispatchable power. We are going to have to be relying on gas, coal and oil for years to come. To try to get rid of it will result in a big hit to our economy. It will result in higher power bills.

I want to see the Greens go to the federal election, and also the state election, with this preposterous idea that fossil fuels should be banned, that we should not have them, and how they will answer the questions of: 'What happens when our power bills go through the roof?' They are already incredibly high, and it is hurting many families out there with cost-of-living pressures and having to absorb other costs on top of having to pay for exorbitant power bills, almost the highest power bills anywhere in the world. Again, this is created because of these large energy companies that have set up renewable energy projects that are sucking investments, sucking money out of our community and sending it offshore.

It was emphasised to me by the Mayor of Goyder when I was up there a couple of weeks ago just how local communities are being fleeced by renewable energy companies. I have no objection to having renewable energy, but it is not going to be the be-all and end-all of meeting our energy needs. You are going to have to have gas, oil and coal for years and years to come.

With that, I think I will finish up by saying that sponsorships from companies like Santos—great South Australian companies—are always welcome because they are putting money back into their communities, and not only in big events, like we see with the Tour Down Under, but also small community groups and other sporting organisations that benefit from their generosity and also benefit from what they put into the Australian economy and the South Australian economy. With that, I will be opposing the bill.

The Hon. B.R. HOOD (17:48): I rise on behalf of the Hon. Heidi Girolamo, and of the opposition, as the lead speaker on this side, to express our firm opposition—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. B.R. HOOD: Do not worry, Ian. It is brief. It is brief to oppose the Public Finance and Audit (Fossil Fuel Sponsorships) Amendment Bill 2024, a piece of legislation introduced by the Hon. Tammy Franks from the Greens. This bill seeks to ban fossil fuel companies from sponsoring public events, including art festivals, sporting events and similar gatherings. The consequences of such legislation would be detrimental to our communities, to the economy, and it sets a dangerous precedent.

It is crucial to understand that fossil fuels remain an essential component of modern life. They are not merely an energy source, they are integral to the production of materials that sustain our society. To demonise the companies that are involved in fossil fuels that are sponsoring these great events in South Australia, the companies that provide the energy materials to support our hospitals and transportation systems and infrastructure, is not only unfair but also short-sighted. They are major employers. They are contributors to local and national economies. By attempting to exclude them from participating in public events through sponsorship bans, we are undermining the critical economic role they play in our communities.

I love the Tour Down Under. I have supported it ever since it came to our great state and loved getting on a bike and tearing around at the community events as well. I am happy for Santos to continue to allow that to be happening in South Australia, and I am very happy to see it continue.

The proposed bill would have far-reaching consequences beyond major events like the Tour Down Under. By restricting sponsorship from fossil fuel companies, we would reduce the amount of private investment flowing into community sports and public events. I certainly urge my colleagues in this house to reject this bill for the benefit of all South Australians.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (17:50): I, too, will be brief—even briefer than the Hon. Mr Hood. The Hon. Robert Simms almost had me with his impassioned contribution, but then he got onto the matter of the bill and he lost me completely. The government will not be supporting the bill today.

The Tour Down Under is a key event for South Australia. The 2024 event injected $87.2 million into the state's economy, attracted 38,000 interstate and overseas visitors and created the equivalent of 530 full-time jobs. The Tour Down Under has now delivered a staggering $1 billion towards the South Australian economy over the last 25 years. Our tourism and events industries have endured a particularly challenging period since the pandemic, with the collapse of many commercial and community events seen across Australia. We know how important major sponsors are to ensuring the continuation of major events.

Santos' sponsorship was mentioned by the Hon. Mr Simms. They have sponsored the TDU since 2010 and supported very strongly the milestones such as the expansion of the women's race and the launch of the domestic television broadcast. Sustainability is an important focus for the Tour Down Under. The event's management team continues to strengthen sustainability measures and encourages host councils, suppliers and partners to do the same regardless of who the sponsor of the event is. They do that anyway.

The government is taking strong action already to address climate change and grow our renewable energy sector. The government does this regardless of who sponsors the Tour Down Under. We will do all that we can to advance sustainability in practice and the shift to renewables, which is already underway and powering ahead under the leadership of the Malinauskas Labor government.

I will just finish with this, the Hon. Mr Simms, who fears that there is not enough leadership from government on renewables: the Rann Labor government led on renewables in this state and this country. The Weatherill Labor government led on renewables in this state and this country. The Malinauskas Labor government is doing even more. We will lead this state and this country into the renewable future, and we will remove fossil fuels eventually from the entire energy sector, but it will take time. It will not be done overnight. I think the bill before us today seeks to do something for the Greens to put out a media release but would do nothing for sustainability and nothing for renewables in this state.

The Hon. S.L. GAME (17:52): I rise briefly to oppose the Hon. Tammy Franks' Public Finance and Audit (Fossil Fuel Sponsorships) Amendment Bill. This bill is essentially an ideologically driven attempt to cancel corporations, who the Greens have defined as 'fossil fuel corporations', from sponsoring arts and sporting events. Unfortunately, the Greens appear to be stuck in the dream of net zero and 100 per cent renewables by 2030, which is understandable given the zealotry displayed by the federal energy minister Chris Bowen and recent indications from the Premier that South Australia wishes to host COP31 in 2027.

But the world is gradually waking up to the dream of net zero, and the people of South Australia are losing their patience with endlessly subsidising renewable energy, which is not surprising given that Australian taxpayers have already invested $29 billion over the past 10 years in pursuit of the dream of net zero. What do we have to show for it? How much has this $29 billion investment reduced our emissions? What about the price of our electricity? We were told that renewables would reduce electricity prices, but have they? In fact, it is quite the opposite. As of March 2024, Australia had the highest electricity price for households in the Asia-Pacific region, and according to the latest report of the Australian Energy Regulator, South Australia had the highest quarterly electricity price increase in the country.

The climate emergency that was declared back in 2022 has now been surpassed by an energy and cost-of-living emergency. Only this week, the Australian Energy Market Operator warned that east coast gas supply needs to be carefully managed to support peak electricity demand periods in summer, particularly in Victoria. This means that Victoria will be hoarding its electricity and gas, which means a shortage for South Australian consumers, due to our dependence on coal-fired electricity from Victoria. Put simply, when the sun does not shine and wind does not blow, we rely on Victoria for our electricity supply.

It is also important to note that the shift away from renewables and the net zero dream is moving very fast, with only days ago BP announcing it is scrapping its net zero targets and refocusing on hydrocarbons to life investor returns. Shell USA has also announced it is pausing its investment in renewables, despite this move costing the corporation US$1 billion.

On top of all this, the world's biggest coal consumer and emitter of climate-warming greenhouse gases, China, has announced a spike in new coal-fired power projects since 2023, due to the country's overwhelming need to produce more cheap and efficient energy supplies. With this, I urge the state and national leaders to wake up and address the energy crisis in this country and avoid ideologically driven policies like this proposal by the Greens.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (17:55): I would like to thank those speakers who made a contribution and put their views on the record with regard to the Public Finance and Audit (Fossil Fuel Sponsorships) Amendment Bill 2024. I thought I would repeat the title of the bill, because I am not sure that most of the contributions were actually about the bill, which is two pages, defines fossil fuel sponsorship and then provides that money not be applied in association with fossil fuel sponsorship:

(1) Money must not be issued or applied from a public account for the purposes of providing funding to an event—

that is public funding, state public funding, the people of South Australia's funding, not the fossil fuel companies' funding—

if a prescribed fossil fuel entity or a fossil fuel is to be promoted (whether as a naming rights sponsor or otherwise) at or by the event, or by or on behalf of the event organisers, under a sponsorship agreement (however described).

Do you know what? The bill actually does not stop the money being taken, although I would like to see that too. It just stops the sportswashing and the greenwashing of the fossil fuel companies, which actually benefit from the state dime, or in fact the state tens of million of dollars, every single time.

We actually do not know how much state money goes into some of our major events in this state. We talk about the Tour Down Under. It used to be sponsored by a winery. We talk about the Adelaide 500, and who knows who sponsors it this year, because everyone still calls it the Clipsal, which shows the power of naming rights.

While I thank the members who contributed—the Hon. Ian Hunter, the Hon. Ben Hood, the Hon. Rob Simms and the Hon. Frank Pangallo—I do question whether the Hon. Frank Pangallo looked very hard. He claimed one thing that was actually related to the bill, but there were a lot of things not related to the bill. One thing he claimed was that he does not see renewable companies sponsoring major events.

Well, he did not look very far, because it is quite well known that Tennis Australia—which of course is a member of the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework, a quite extensive network right across the world—is now sponsored by Pacific Blue. Do you know why? Because they dumped Santos as a sponsor.

So I am not sure how far the Hon. Frank Pangallo looked, but certainly Pacific Blue, Australia's only 100 per cent renewable energy generator and retailer, now powers the Australian Open and is the official renewable energy partner of the Australian Open and Tennis Australia. So there we go; there is one example. We might be living in fantasyland, according to the Hon. Frank Pangallo, but I have to say there was a simple fact right in front of his face and he did not see it.

Also, Pacific Blue sponsors Netball Australia, the Melbourne City Football Club and my old home team from New South Wales, the Sydney City Roosters, which will remain East's Easter win forever, despite what happened back in the day of their title being changed. They are sponsored by BYD, which is an EV manufacturer. Back in the day, I would never have seen that coming, that my old rugby team would be sponsored by an EV manufacturer, but there we are; it is 2025 and the times change and the community changes.

This bill is important because when I was a child I remembered the Benson & Hedges World Cup, and I remembered the Virginia Slims cigarette company sponsoring the women's tennis. I know that those messages were sent by those companies, those lethal companies associating themselves with sport, into my mind as a child to have that feel-good factor. To this day I still associate those sports with those cigarette companies.

We know fossil fuels are far more deadly than cigarettes. But do you know what? My daughter will never associate sports with cigarettes, because our government stood for something. It stood on principle, recognised the dangers and cut those sponsorships. This bill does not even go that far. It simply says, 'We are not going to give you public money to help you sportswash your way out of your sullied [quite rightly so] reputations.'

We know we are in a climate emergency. This parliament, I am glad, has recognised and declared a climate emergency. While the numbers seem pretty shaky, if we would have that vote here again I suspect that, with the Greens and the Labor government, we would just hold that particular view.

Yes, a declared climate emergency does require action. There is a clear link between fossil fuel companies seeking to sportswash and greenwash their way out of any complicity and responsibility for the climate crisis, and we have to stop letting them get away with it. Clearly there are other people who are willing to step into these roles. I have just given you a few examples, but there are literally, from the United Nations down and indeed the Secretary-General down, hundreds of companies, hundreds of individual sporting entities and fields, that have moved away from fossil fuels. It is time that the South Australian Malinauskas government did the same. If we are serious about hosting COP, then it is a cop-out not to do so.

Really, are we going to have a Santos-sponsored COP31? Will we have any credibility on the world stage? I say that not as a joke, because actually Santos did sponsor a stall at a previous COP, and that was associated with Australia and it sullied our nation's reputation at that COP. In fact, it would go some way to stopping us—quite rightly, I think—from hosting a COP with any credibility.

We do not want fossil fuel companies having the ability to use public money to greenwash their way out of the mess that they have created. In fact, Santos in 2019-20 alone was responsible for approximately 28.6 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent being emitted into our atmosphere from the end use of the gas they supplied. They like to call it natural gas, and we know that is a marketing ploy as well. It is approximately 95 per cent methane, which, for the record, is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

I have to say that I could talk about LIV Golf, and I note that the Hon. Rob Simms did. The hypocrisy of allowing LIV Golf and allowing the Saudi fund to actually sportswash their reputation with our money is not lost on me. The reality is that they have not even given us that much money for the privilege of sportswashing their way out of their quite rightly sullied reputation. They needed us more than we needed them, and here we are now, seeing people just falling over themselves to stand by the great white shonk and to buy into something that, as I say, is an utter cop-out on the world stage.

I understand that time is growing close to what would normally be the dinner break, so I will wrap it up. I do want to thank my staff members, in particular Joanna Wells, for working on this campaign. I also thank Belinda Noble and her team, who do extraordinary work in Australia and across the globe, and Fossil Free SA here locally, some of whom have not only written, phoned and emailed but have taken to the streets and will not only sit in our galleries but will spread the word of what they heard today about some climate denialism going on in this place. And do you know what? That climate denialism is emboldened by a government that says one thing, that declares a climate emergency, that says it is a great leader in renewables, but is happy to let fossil fuel companies sportswash their way with South Australians' money.

The council divided on the second reading:

Ayes 2

Noes 15

Majority 13

AYES

NOES

Second reading thus negatived.

There being a disturbance in the gallery:

The PRESIDENT: Get them out! Get out, get out! If you can't behave yourself, don't come. Out! Show courtesy and leave—out!

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Point of order in relation to that disturbance.

The PRESIDENT: What is your point of order, the Hon. Mr Pangallo?

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: I am going to ask that the President actually take action against those persons in the gallery.

The PRESIDENT: I have cleared the gallery. The debate is completed. We are on to item No. 57.