Media Release
19 December 2019
Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Adam Searle MLC, has said our State is being let down by Liberal National party governments in NSW and the Commonwealth, after it emerged that Australia is among the worst in the world at cutting pollution and addressing climate change.
Just yesterday, the Morrison Government’s contribution at the COP 25 Climate Summit in Madrid, Spain was described by observers as “cynical, irresponsible and ultimately destructive”.
Last week the 2020 Climate Change Performance Index ranked Australia 56th out of 61 countries for action on climate change policy, following a Climate Council report last month calling NSW a loser on the transition to renewables and ranking NSW sixth out of the eight States and Territories.
Mr Searle said the results were an embarrassment for NSW.
“This Premier infamously said ‘now is not the time’ to discuss climate change. Meanwhile, her Liberal and National Party Ministers have changed laws to allow broad-scale land clearing. They have mismanaged water allocations, worsening the drought’s impact. And they have failed to develop a coherent energy or climate change policy,” Mr Searle said.
“NSW is the only Australian state without a renewable energy target, meaning no roadmap for long term investment. Already, NSW is missing out on billions of dollars in projects and tens of thousands of jobs going to other states. A sensible government would be planning to support workers and communities along the journey to net zero. Instead, this one is determined to privatise NSW Forestry Corporation, our largest source of carbon offsets.
“NSW is dealing with one of the worst droughts on record and facing unprecedented fire danger. It’s hotter, drier and smokier than ever before.
“Instead of showing leadership, our State and national governments refuse to acknowledge the reality of climate change that we can see around us. It is a threat to our economy as well as to our environment. They just have their heads buried in the sand. Our communities deserve better than this” — Adam Searle MLC, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy
Adam Searle MLC 