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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-06-10 Daily Xml
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Climate Change

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (14:49): To the Minister for Water and Environment: minister please update the house on the benefits of the Marshall Liberal government's practical approach to our changing climate.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (14:49): I thank the member for Chaffey for his—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will resume his seat for a moment. The leader is warned. Interjections of that nature are intolerable and will cease, and there will be consequences should that warning not be heeded. The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I am glad that the member for Chaffey on this side of the house takes practical action towards climate change seriously, unlike the locker room thuggery and comments from the other side that we see time and time again, particularly from the Leader of the Opposition, which we had a prime example of a moment ago. Anyway, on to the good news—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: You see, he hates good news about climate change.

The SPEAKER: The minister will not respond to interjections.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: Climate whingers versus climate doers over here, because not only do we have our incredibly—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —important interim target to reduce emissions by 50 per cent by 2030, giving us that go-to action—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Education is warned.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: —with that powerful target but we are also getting on with a whole range of practical actions towards building resilience across our landscape, building a cooler, greener city so that we can adapt to a change in climate here in South Australia and also getting the big infrastructure solutions in place in order to ensure that we are not only positioned really well to deal with the change in climate but actually to have an economic benefit from exporting power to other states—our clean, green renewable power—and really setting the example in Australia, if not internationally, as to what a low carbon or decarbonised economy can look like.

That is why the announcement just a few days ago of the interconnector between South Australia and New South Wales is so important—because it really futureproofs our capacity to strive forward into that place of international leadership. We know we've got that very high penetration of renewables in South Australia—but that can lead to risks within our energy production, within our grid, when it comes to grid stability if we can move that energy to other jurisdictions.

That is why it is such phenomenal news that we have been able to secure a pathway forward for that interconnector. That work is underway now, and it is a testament to the leadership of the Minister for Energy and Mining and the Premier that we have been able to get that piece of exceptionally good news.

That is a foundation stone in our journey towards a decarbonised economy here in South Australia. It will make sure that we've got that strong, clean, green brand, and the opportunity to have advanced manufacturing based around that clean, green economy, which we know countries right across the world are looking to not just for leadership, knowledge and intellectual property in this area but also critically for products that are manufactured in an environment like ours.

That will lead to a premium price for them, it will create jobs here, and we know that in recent years as a state we have been able to decouple from emissions reduction, not needing to mean our reduction and economic capacity. In fact, emissions reductions in this state has seen at the same time increased economic growth, job creation and a real road map for the rest of the world as to how to do this and do it well.

Traditionally, we have been able to do this in a bipartisan sense in South Australia. The policy arena in this area was quite seamless when we came to government. It is very sad that the opposition with their carping and whingeing have walked away from that policy of bipartisanship when it comes to climate action, but we will continue to get on with it, and we will build that resilience across our economy.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Before I call the member for West Torrens, I call to order the member for Davenport—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader will cease interjecting.

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