House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-05-31 Daily Xml

Contents

Motions

Climate Change

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Minister for Defence and Space Industries, Minister for Climate, Environment and Water) (15:43): I move:

That this house—

(a) notes the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report confirms that greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, and current plans to address climate change are not ambitious enough to limit warming to 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial level—a threshold scientists believe is necessary to avoid more catastrophic impacts;

(b) notes that around the world, climate change impacts are already causing loss of life and destroying vital ecosystems;

(c) declares that we are facing a climate emergency; and

(d) commits to restoring a safe climate by transforming the economy to zero net emissions.

I am delighted and honoured to be able to speak to this motion, in front of not only those people who are here today in the chamber but also the people who are in the gallery who have been significantly active and loud about the importance of declaring this climate emergency and also anyone who is watching from home who has been desperately waiting for the South Australian parliament to finally acknowledge the truth that we are indeed in a climate emergency.

It is a pretty easy thing to ask of a government, I think, to tell the truth and yet sometimes it is a little difficult for some. I do not want to belabour the challenges that we face in climate because nearly everyone not only knows it but gets it and understands the challenges. We have only had to look at what we have lived through in South Australia with the intensity of the fires on Kangaroo Island—an intensity that had not been seen before. They were difficult for firefighters to manage and caused catastrophic damage not only to properties and people engaging in primary production but also to a huge part of the wilderness of Kangaroo Island.

The drying of the Murray-Darling Basin and the flooding are also, perversely in some ways, part of climate change because, as you add more energy to the system, you get more activity in the climate, and it is devastating. It is important that we not only acknowledge that the climate has started to change, and there is built into the system far more change that is yet to come, but we also need to acknowledge the truth that this constitutes an emergency and then we need to act on that. I acknowledge, congratulate and thank the people who were involved in calling this to the parliament's attention.

Last year, I presented a petition of 10,600 signatures asking that we declare this emergency. It was coordinated by Margaret Hender, who is a magnificent South Australian, who simply said, 'We need 10,000 signatures? No problem.' People were queueing up to sign because they know how important it is that we are honest and that we are truthful about this. We tried before, of course: this motion was in the upper house a couple of years ago under the stewardship of Mark Parnell. The Labor Party in opposition supported it, but unfortunately it was not supported by the then Marshall government.

The political response to the reality of this emergency in Australia has been very disappointing for a very long time at the federal level. I think we can all breathe a sigh of relief that finally we have again a federal government that acknowledges the truth of climate change and is prepared to act on it.

While in South Australia the previous Labor government, from Rann to Weatherill, was intent on decarbonising our electricity sector, our electricity emissions, we had the person who has only just been turfed out as Prime Minister fondling coal in parliament as if it were a joke, as if the idea of carbon polluting the atmosphere were something to be mocked and, in fact, to be made a display of. That would not have been allowed here.

When we had a big battery in order to make electricity emissions more sustainably low carbon, in Canberra they mocked that as the 'big banana'. They had no clue about the importance of what needs to happen primarily in order not only to protect our environment but, significantly, to position the South Australian and Australian economy to take advantage of the need to decarbonise, to make ourselves the home of low to zero manufacturing, something that South Australia is within grasp of being able to do thanks significantly to the previous leadership of Mike Rann and Jay Weatherill.

When the Liberals were in government here, we saw not only the destruction of the environment budget, by the ripping out of $34 million in the first environment budget under the then minister, but also a refusal to acknowledge the simple truth that this does constitute an emergency. This government understands that it is not enough to say that it is true: you also have to act. While we have many policies directed towards climate change, the absolute centrepiece is the nearly $600 million being spent on the Hydrogen Jobs Plan. It is named that very deliberately.

This is not just about decarbonising our electricity production, it is not just about providing that firming capacity for renewable energy so that we are able finally to guarantee base load renewable energy electricity, but it is also about using that to create a new economy in South Australia—an economy whose time has come, an economy that will be based on our natural assets of wind and sun and a South Australian public that have long understood the importance of climate change and long wanted to see government respond and have themselves had solar raised on their houses and been pleased to see wind farms springing up across the state.

South Australia deserves to be the first place in the world that is able to generate a truly renewable electricity system that supplies a zero carbon manufacturing sector. That is what we deserve to see, but we do that by understanding why we are doing that, and we are doing it because humans have put too many greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and they are killing our planet. We need to be honest about that. The impact on biodiversity, the impact on primary production, the impact on people who do not have air conditioning and having extended heatwaves—these are all real. They are all already happening, and they will get worse if we do not decarbonise.

To decarbonise we need to be honest, and this motion is at last the South Australian parliament declaring that it understands the seriousness of this situation and responding to the pleas of the South Australian public to do so. I commend those who will be voting in favour of this motion and I commend, still more, the people, the public of South Australia, who have asked for this, who expect it and who look forward to embracing all the actions that will flow from this government to address climate change.

Mr SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (15:50): I rise to support the spirit of this motion but wish to move an amendment to the motion to strengthen it by, in paragraph (a), adding in the words 'including biodiversity decline' after the words' catastrophic impacts', deleting paragraph (d) and inserting three new, much stronger paragraphs:

(d) declares that a pathway to curbing these impacts will require swift action;

(e) notes that addressing the changing climate presents significant economic, employment, innovation and technological opportunities for South Australia, and that these opportunities should be actively pursued and supported; and

(f) commits to action to help restore a safe climate by:

(i) transforming the South Australian economy to zero net emissions by 2050 and to 50 per cent by 2030; and

(ii) quarantining the Department for Environment and Water from budget cuts.

The motion would read:

That this house—

(a) notes the most recent Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change report confirms that greenhouse gases continue to rise, and current plans to address climate change are not ambitious enough to limit warming to 1.5º Celsius above pre-industrial levels—a threshold scientists believe is necessary to avoid more catastrophic impacts including biodiversity decline;

(b) notes that around the world, climate change impacts are already causing loss of life and destroying vital ecosystems;

(c) declares that we are facing a climate emergency;

(d) declares that a pathway to curbing these impacts will require swift action;

(e) notes that addressing the changing climate presents significant economic, employment, innovation and technological opportunities for South Australia, and that these opportunities should be actively pursued and supported; and

(f) commits to action to help restore a safe climate by:

(i) transforming the South Australian economy to zero net emissions by 2050, and to 50 per cent by 2030; and

(ii) quarantining the Department for Environment and Water from budget cuts.

These amendments are incredibly important from my point of view, and I speak on behalf of the entire opposition when I say that we believe we need to continue South Australia's bipartisan trajectory towards net zero by 2050, importantly pitching towards that 2030 goal of a 50 per cent reduction in 2005 levels of emissions by 2030.

We see that interim goal, which we announced in February 2020, as a powerful goad into action for community, for government, for business and for all South Australians to continue our journey of not just leading South Australia, not just leading our nation, but leading the world when it comes to our response to climate change and also grasping hold of opportunities. One of the great things that has happened over the last decade or decade and a half in South Australia is the ability to decouple the increase in carbon emissions from economic growth.

Historically, we thought for some time that we could not do that: we could not see the economy continue to grow and at the same time reduce carbon emissions. But what South Australia has proven through our work across parliaments, across governments and across political parties of both persuasions, is that you can grab hold of the economic opportunity, create those green industries and transition your economy to a decarbonised economy, creating lots of jobs, creating intellectual property and creating solutions, both in emissions mitigation and in adapting our society, because inevitably the climate is changing.

South Australia cannot stop that by ourselves, so we also have to adapt by greening our cities and towns, by finding ways to sequester carbon through blue carbon opportunities, by creating more resilience along our coastlines so that increased storm events can more likely be absorbed and have less impact on our communities and on our environment.

We believe in this and we believe in the spirit of what the Labor government are doing with this motion today, but we do want to see it moved beyond simply gesture: we want to see it moved to action because a climate emergency declaration by itself is worth nought. What we need is true action. We need to see investment, investment and conservation: investment to stop biodiversity decline because all too often we talk lots and lots about climate change but not enough about an even greater environmental catastrophe unfolding.

David Attenborough describes biodiversity decline as an even more urgent but related crisis. So I have asked for an amendment to insert 'biodiversity decline' into this motion so that we can step up and respond to biodiversity decline here in South Australia. We know that Australia has an abhorrent record when it comes to the loss of species of flora and fauna. We want to try to do our best to reverse those declines, to see our landscape rewilded and to create opportunities for those native species to both survive and thrive in our landscape.

I have also proposed an amendment to this motion to include the job-creating opportunities and the economic potential of climate change and responding to climate change, the opportunities that come with South Australia being a first mover in this area. I acknowledge the work undertaken by Mike Rann when he was Premier of this state and by Jay Weatherill when he was the Premier, and that was seamlessly continued when the Marshall Liberal government took office in 2018.

It was my great privilege to be the minister responsible for climate change policy and climate change action in South Australia for four years and now to be able to take that role into the leadership of the opposition, to maintain the shadow environment portfolio, to continue to carry the flag for this important portfolio, a portfolio that was all too often left withered and ignored in history in this state.

Another amendment I believe is so important is to say that to take real action, to veer away from simply gesture, we need to quarantine the environment department from budget cuts. When Labor were last in power, the environment department's budget fell by 60 per cent. The number of rangers working in our environment, in our parks, fell from 300 to only 93. We were up by 45 per cent. Again, we can go better, and I was delighted to hear that the Labor government are investing in Indigenous rangers in their upcoming budget. I ask them to continue growing our rangers workforce, to create a workforce of people who understand our national parks.

Twenty-one per cent of our state is held in the national parks regime. That is about the size of the UK when you put them all together, and that is a national parks estate which grew substantially during the Marshall Liberal government's time in office. Let's continue that journey. You cannot do it if you cut the Department for Environment and Water's budget. That entire budget must be quarantined. We must invest in the natural world. We must invest in the natural capital of our state because that will secure our native species. It will also secure the resilience of the landscape so that we continue to be a place which is highly livable so that we can continue to be a place that proudly produces high-quality food and fibre.

So, while the Labor Party have a terrible record throughout their 16 years in office from 2002 to 2018 in terms of the environmental administration in the state, there is a real opportunity now to build that budget and to create resilience in that budget so that we can respond to pressing environmental issues in this state. The budget is small in the scheme of a whole-of-state budget, which is above $20 billion. The environment department's budget sits at around about $300 million. It is a small budget, but it is an important budget.

We should aim to work together to grow that budget, to seek federal contributions to projects to grow that budget, to invest in a department which is there first and foremost to look after our national parks, to invest in conservation, to invest in biodiversity, and position our state as a leader in climate change policy and emissions reduction and in adaptation measures to set this state up for success in the face of the challenges of a changing climate.

Ms CLANCY (Elder) (16:00): I rise in support of this motion, unamended, and in doing so thank the Deputy Premier for her leadership and advocacy both in this place and within our community to protect our environment and urgently address climate crisis. By declaring a climate emergency in South Australia, the Malinauskas Labor government is acknowledging that more must be done to address the risks posed by climate change. More must be done to mitigate the effects it is already having on our state's environment and our communities. More must be done to decarbonise our economy.

Today, we acknowledge that, while South Australia has a strong reputation for leading both our nation and the world when it comes to renewable energy, we must move to do more and we need to do it quickly. I am proud that for 16 years, under a Labor government, our state led Australia in renewable energy generation. We moved away from our reliance on fossil fuels and provided an example to other states of what could be achieved.

In 2002, it was the South Australian Labor government that set the 26 per cent renewables by 2020 target, harnessing the abundance of wind and solar resources our state has to offer. In 2007, it was a South Australian Labor government that introduced the Climate Change and Greenhouse Emissions Reduction Act, making South Australia the first state to legislate targets to reduce greenhouse emissions. In 2017, it was a South Australian Labor government that built the world's largest lithium-ion battery.

It has been Labor governments that have protected our environment, and we will build upon this legacy by taking ambitious and immediate action to address climate change. It will be a Malinauskas Labor government that builds a hydrogen power station, an electrolyser and a storage facility to generate clean energy and power new jobs and industry in South Australia. There is such an incredible opportunity available to us, and our Labor government is ready to take advantage of the international hunger for green hydrogen. We do this for our environment. We do this for our jobs. We do this for our economy. But, let me say again, we do this for our environment.

The Malinauskas Labor government's Hydrogen Jobs Plan will deliver three key elements: a 200-megawatt hydrogen power station, harnessing South Australian renewable energy to supply cleaner and cheaper power to South Australian businesses, factories manufacturers and miners, creating new jobs and helping attract new industry to South Australia; 250-megawatt electrical capacity of hydrogen electoral electrolysers, using excess renewable energy—so instead of switching off the solar panels and just letting the energy go to waste, instead of the need to remotely switch it off like that—to unlock a $20 billion pipeline of renewable energy projects in South Australia; and we will deliver a hydrogen storage facility holding the equivalent of two months' operation or 3,600 tonnes of hydrogen, providing additional capacity when required.

The Malinauskas Labor government is also moving quickly to introduce legislation to repeal the electric vehicle tax that those opposite seem to think was a great idea. It truly just shows how out of touch the Liberals are. In a warming world, where we want to decrease our reliance on fossil fuels, they make it more expensive for people to move to electric vehicles. We are repealing that tax because we want to encourage more South Australians to buy an electric car and reduce their emissions. We do not want to make it harder.

We have also committed to updating the Climate Change and Greenhouse Emissions Reduction Act to reflect short-term targets, consider carbon budgets and government adaption plans; but this is just the beginning. The federal election showed us clear as day that Australians are demanding action on climate change.

Australians have spoken: they want action and they want it now. They do not want a 'I'll just leave it to the next guy' Liberal climate policy. They do not want climate wars. They understand that reducing carbon footprints is not enough. They understand that while our individual choices do make a difference, it is collective action and the power of government that will create the transformative environmental change we need to leave an Earth that our children can thrive on.

I hear them, and I hear the voices of those in my electorate. I hear the voices that come from the younger members of our community, who are genuinely scared for their future, young people like those fantastic activists in the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. I hear the voices that come from those who are worried about their grandchildren. I hear the voices of those showing their children why climate action is needed and fighting for them, like Australian Parents for Climate Action. I hear you. The Malinauskas Labor government hears you. Today, this parliament hears you. We are in a climate emergency, an emergency we must act upon today.

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (16:05): I also welcome the opportunity to speak in parliament today about climate change and net zero. South Australia is one of the driest places in the world, so climate and rainfall have been an ever-present challenge to South Australia in terms of its growth, both economic and social. Just in terms of our water supply, a lot of it is sourced from the River Murray, which relies on rainfall throughout Australia. Effects of the warming climate from the Australian perspective involve reduced average rainfall and more frequent and severe heatwaves, which then make South Australia more susceptible to droughts and bushfires.

These are certainly challenges that should be taken seriously here in South Australia. Referring to the motion, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports that have been released in 2021 and 2022 are in fact the sixth iteration of these reports, which give scientific and technical knowledge around climate change. One of those reports, the third one, Mitigation of Climate Change, does demonstrate the growth in greenhouse gases across the decades.

Starting in 1990, the overall carbon dioxide equivalent emissions were 38 gigatonnes, rising to 59 gigatonnes by 2019. If we break that down into different regions, which the report does, it shows that eastern Asia makes up 27 per cent of those emissions, North America 12 per cent and Europe 8 per cent. Breaking that down further, Australia's emissions in 1990 were around 630 megatonnes, decreasing to 530 megatonnes by 2019. Similarly, South Australia's emissions have reduced to 24 megatonnes in 2019, coming from around 36 megatonnes.

These reports highlight some of the really complex global challenges that come with mitigating climate change and that to some extent the temperature rises that have occurred since pre-industrial times may become permanent because of this huge growth globally. Consequently, addressing climate change has been a priority of the previous Liberal government and remains a priority to those on this side of the house because we certainly acknowledge the risks and challenges that climate change poses.

At the same time, South Australia is not the only jurisdiction facing these challenges; in fact, South Australia is better equipped to respond to the challenges but also to the opportunities of climate change, more so than any other Australian state and most other places in the world. One of the reasons is that our state has about 69 per cent of Australia's solar and wind-generating resources, which we can leverage to generate large amounts of renewable energy.

As such, as has previously been spoken about, we are in the process of transitioning our electricity system towards renewable energy, with at this stage over 60 per cent of the state's electricity generated from renewable sources. This certainly gives us a strong base to meet the challenges of climate change but, importantly, as the leader has pointed out, to frame it as being able to capture opportunities from low emissions and climate-resilient products and also the services and resources that come from that.

I have to emphasise that there is a commitment to reduce emissions and make sure that they are done at nation-leading target levels. That is why we saw the previous Liberal government not only put in place a clear path for responding to these challenges but also build a strong climate future, which is characterised, as I said before, by those nation-leading targets. There is also a desire to adapt and pursue climate change related opportunities, including engaging business and the market, because we know that produces growth here and then flows through to jobs.

The motion talks about plans, and in December 2020 the former Liberal government released its Climate Change Action Plan, which was developed with input from renowned climate change expert Professor Ross Garnaut. It covered the five-year period 2021 to 2025, and it focused on seven key areas that can provide a pathway to achieving those net zero emissions by 2050. It really did show that South Australia was on track to reach net 100 per cent of our electricity demand with renewable energy by 2030 and in so doing this gave us confidence as a government to set the goal of reducing the overall emissions in South Australia by 50 per cent by 2030, and you will see that the amended motion moved by the leader makes reference to that.

Additionally, because of this momentum and this plan and the vision it provides, it made it very foreseeable to achieve a level of renewable energy that would be five times more than the current local grid demand by 2050. It is important that, as we go through this transition to renewable energy, it needs to be done in an orderly manner, which not only generates clean electricity but, just as importantly, provides electricity that is affordable and reliable.

We had a number of focus areas to achieve that as a government, and one of those was fast-tracking the construction of the interconnector between South Australia and New South Wales, which would have a capacity of 800 megawatts or equivalent to 200,000 households. That would allow South Australia, as we build our renewable energy, to export it because, if we can only generate electricity to be used here in SA, it provides a cap on what we can create.

So, by being able to export it, we can get to that net 100 per cent quickly and also help other states in their decarbonisation efforts. More importantly, it also provides stability so that when it is not always windy here we can import it. However, as I said, by exporting more than we import we can have net 100 per cent renewable energy as well.

Another fantastic outcome was that it generated investment. It made other major world players—international and domestic players—want to invest here in South Australia: Neoen invested $3 billion in Goyder South and Amp Energy invested $2 billion. All-up, around $7 billion worth of investment was already committed, and then that brought out further investments. It was a pipeline of not only plans for actual progress but also plans for generation capacity of upwards and approaching 16 gigawatts, which is over five times our current peak demand here. That is also creating nearly $20 billion worth of investment. That is economic opportunity being leveraged by this orderly transition that has been set in place.

Other initiatives include the massive Home Battery Scheme, which saw South Australia over the next five years projected to have about 20 per cent of the household batteries in this nation here in South Australia, which not only reduces the costs for those households but, importantly, reduces the peak demand across the board and so reduces costs for all consumers in South Australia, and that is a way of keeping prices down as well.

In terms of being able to further grow economic opportunities, there are massive opportunities in using that renewable energy to create hydrogen. I will not go into the details of that, but we recognise that could be a key way for us to further grow investment in renewable energy. We worked with international companies and major domestic companies that are experienced in this field to attract the funding around the Port Bonython hydrogen hub. That is going to be a legacy of the former government that will stand us in good stead for years to come. It will provide a massive way for other nations also to decarbonise, not just Australia itself.

I will quickly touch on the other elements the leader was noting. Yes, we can do mitigation techniques, but we also need to be realistic. I spoke around the global emissions at 59 gigatonnes, compared with 24 megatonnes—that is, 59,000 megatonnes—really, the percentage of South Australia. Yes, we can do our bit, but we need to be realistic. We need to adapt because we cannot necessarily control what other countries are doing. They are in various stages of development, and there may be other pressing needs that mean it is harder for them to decarbonise.

We did a great deal of work in terms of coastal protection. That is where rising sea levels will have an impact. Importantly, we also invested heavily in our national parks. I think over 20 per cent of the landmass of South Australia is covered by national parks, and that provides biodiversity corridors. I think that is another legacy, one in particular being Glenthorne National Park, the second national park in metropolitan Adelaide. That is going to be important from a biodiversity perspective as well.

The amendments the leader has moved really flesh out the importance of rapid action, the importance of actually setting targets as well, being quite specific so we can be held to account but also so that especially the younger generation, who want some reassurance, can see that we are taking action, and they can rest assured that we are.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Minister for Defence and Space Industries, Minister for Climate, Environment and Water) (16:15): I thank everyone who has participated in this debate. They were wonderful contributions. I also thank particularly the member for Morphett, who brings quite an academic cast of mind. I understand he did extremely well in engineering and understands probably in a lot more technical detail than I do some of the mechanics that sit behind how we can unleash the power of hydrogen. I also acknowledge that the leader has always recognised that climate change is real. I am grateful that we have politics in South Australia where we are not arguing over that at least.

I will just briefly note that our side of parliament will not be supporting the amendments. We take that position for three reasons, because the spirit of the amendments is not unreasonable. There are three reasons why we will be opposing those today. It is a pity that we have to get into trying to change it and then having to oppose that, but I think these are important reasons.

The first is that we are caught between the repetition that sits here. Nearly everything that is in the amendment is effectively just reworking and embellishing what is already in the motion. It adds nothing. If we did so, if we decided we wanted to be a bit more verbose on the subject, we would be then inconsistent with the Legislative Council, where I understand the same amendment has been moved, but the intention of the majority is to oppose that, including crossbenchers from the Greens and from SA-Best. I see that the version that has been put here in fact says 'That this Council', so presumably it originated from the other place and has had found its way down here.

The second reason that we oppose these amendments is that it appears essentially to be suddenly a 'road to Damascus' moment of realising that perhaps it was the wrong thing to oppose this last time, when the Hon. Mark Parnell put it forward and the Labor Party supported it. Having found themselves on the wrong side of history, as one might think, there is an attempt to claim ownership. Rather than simply supporting the motion as it is and as it is going through the Legislative Council, they are trying to say, 'Well, we're better and we're putting some more words in, so that means it's ours as well.' I think that is a pretty poor reason to amend a motion.

The third reason is the degree of hypocrisy that sits in elements of this, in particular the identification of quarantining one part of government, the environment and water part, from budget cuts. This comes from a leader who in his first budget, as I mentioned earlier, cut $34 million out of the environment department. In fact, he specifically took $11.6 million out of climate change in the environment department, so the level of hypocrisy is almost breathtaking.

It was interesting that the rangers were mentioned. On the weekend my friend and colleague Kyam Maher and I were proud to announce that the budget will contain new money for 15 Aboriginal rangers in South Australia, which will be significant for the Aboriginal community, for the rangers themselves, but particularly for the way in which visitors are able to experience and understand the importance of the cultural attachment and understanding of nature and of the country.

When the leader was the environment minister first, he came in with a commitment to have 20 more rangers, and the environment department absorbed those costs. It was not new money to say, 'Here, you are going to get some more.' They had to rearrange their existing resources and cut other things in order to fund those rangers.

So I think a third reason not to support amendments is if there is a degree of hypocrisy that is involved with them, and there is a pretty high degree of that. But let's leave that aside. That is a little distasteful, because what we want here ideally is bipartisanship. I am hopeful that in fact we will get support on both sides of the chamber for the original motion, assuming that the amendments will indeed fail.

What we are doing here today, if that is the case, is historic for South Australia and in fact is rare in Australia for a state-level parliament to decide that, in both chambers, it wants to acknowledge the truth of climate change, that in both chambers and on both sides of politics it has parties that accept the reality of climate change and are prepared to do something about it.

I will, I expect, be returning to parliament before too long with some amendments to the legislation that governs climate change in South Australia in order to be specific about targets. I think it is essential that we continue to drive our achievements. We should celebrate what we have done. We should drive our achievements forward, but we should above all be truthful, particularly with the young generation who already know what is going on, who already have a degree of fury with the inaction that they have seen to date, who want us to be honest and want us to act.

As a parliament, if we can do that, on all sides of parliament and in both chambers, then I think we can give some confidence to the youth of today that we hear what they are saying and we will be acting. I commend the motion to the house.

Amendment negatived; motion carried.