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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-03-04 Daily Xml
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Premier's Climate Change Council

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (15:10): My question is to the Minister for Environment. Can the minister inform the house of the Premier's Climate Change Council winners, in particular the top award winner, Tom Linnell from my electorate, and Stephen Telford?

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (15:11): I thank the member for his question. He raises a very valuable program, which the state government is pleased to be able to run through the Premier's Climate Change Council. This is a series of leadership awards that recognises people in community, organisations in community, and government and individuals who are going above and beyond with regard to leadership in the area of climate change policy and programs.

We know that South Australia has really a world-leading agenda around climate change action, both in the mitigation and adaptation areas, so it was great last week to be able to come together with the Premier's Climate Change Council, very ably chaired by Martin Haese, to celebrate the nominees from these various groups from community, from government and in the individual category.

It is great that there were two notable winners in the South-East. Firstly, it's worth mentioning Roundwood Solutions, a family-owned business based in the South-East. I am sure that not only would the member for Mount Gambier be aware of this organisation but also the member for MacKillop. They are Australia's largest supplier of round posts and really have undergone a transformation in recent times through their production process leading to innovations in the way they manufacture these posts, which has seen them move towards carbon neutrality and working towards being more and more climate smart.

The product produced by Roundwood Solutions is certified as environmentally friendly—not always the case with these posts, which can be a particular challenge to deal with during bushfires. They are responsibly sourced, they last longer and they don't contain any heavy metals and contaminates. They are much better to deal with in an adapting climate and they are more insect, weather and fire resistant than other products, so big congratulations to Roundwood Solutions.

It is also worth celebrating and mentioning in parliament today the work of Tom Linnell, who was not only the community category winner but also the overall winner of the Climate Leaders Award. Tom is a passionate and committed sustainability and climate change educator based in one of the state's largest schools, Tenison Woods College in Mount Gambier. His vision is to empower students to be the change that they want to see in the world, and he has been working very closely with his students right across the school to see the school be off the grid by 2030 and reach a target of zero waste by 2025.

This is really pushing the boundaries when it comes to the running of a school. Schools can have particular challenges around waste management and obviously carbon neutrality as well, and to see this school come off the grid and be zero waste by 2025 is really, really impressive. When it comes to climate change, taking the message to future generations and giving students the knowledge and understanding to be able to cope with the changing climate and also to develop those skills around innovation, particularly in the STEM subjects, and come up with solutions is so important. A huge congratulations to Tom Linnell from Tenison Woods College in Mount Gambier for the leadership he is showing; it really is remarkable.

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