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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-09-22 Daily Xml
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Climate Change

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (15:07): I have been waiting patiently, sir. My question is for the Minister for Environment and Water. Can the minister update the house on the Marshall Liberal government's practical approach to adapting to our changing climate?

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (15:08): I thank the member for Colton for his question. It is great to be able to update the house on the excellent trajectory that this government is taking when it comes to dealing with our changing climate because we know there are very significant challenges at play, not just in South Australia but across our nation and the globe. To be able to have our house in order, and ensure that we are not only doing our bit to lead and reduce our emissions but also adapting so that we are building that resilience and higher levels of wellbeing into our community and our landscape so that we can deal with the changing climate, is so critically important.

I was delighted to be able to meet with Ross Garnaut, really the country's pre-eminent climate economist, and have a discussion with him and receive a report that he had undertaken for the government, taking a look at how South Australia was doing in terms of climate change policy, projects and initiatives and also providing us with some advice as to the direction and trajectory we could head in, particularly in the context of economic recovery from COVID-19 and the effects that the pandemic has had on our state.

The most encouraging thing about Professor Garnaut's findings and advice was that, yes, we are headed in the right direction and there has been a fairly robust bipartisan approach to reduction of emissions over an extended period of time, but now is not the time to slow down; in fact, in the face of economic difficulties we need to redouble our efforts to transition our economy to a low or no-carbon economy and actually leverage those opportunities. We need to leverage them to invest in resources which benefit from that low or no-carbon status that this state has.

We know there are jurisdictions all across the world that are looking for products and services and resources which derive from a status like we hold here in South Australia. We know there is a movement towards green steel and many other resources to be able to essentially add value to these products and demonstrate to those wanting to buy them that the products produced here are done so in an environment where emissions are very, very low.

There is also a great importance to make sure that we adapt, that we are adapting our South Australian community to deal with that inevitable change that has come and is likely to deteriorate into the future. That means working with our agricultural communities to build resilience right across the landscape so that we can continue to produce food and fibre not only for our state but for export across the world and also looking at greening our city because we know that the streets in Adelaide which are lined by trees are the streets which are cooler. They are more resilient to those very hot days in summer.

That is why it has been great to work with Professor Chris Daniels and the board of Green Adelaide on projects in partnership with local councils to get that canopy preserved and expanded. We know that we are not doing as well as we should in the area of greening our city. It is a policy area that we need to get better at and it is a policy area that will build that resilience into our urban landscape. It is a pleasure to be able to work alongside the Deputy Premier in her capacity as planning minister to further those projects.

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister's time has expired.

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