NSW still needs a climate change adaptation action plan

Abigail gave notice of a motion calling for the NSW Government to implement the Audit Office report's recommendations, including urgently delivering a climate change adaptation action plan for NSW. The former Coalition Government refused to do this for years. The Greens are committed to pushing the Labor Government to finally introduce one.

Abigail gave notice of the following motion:

(1) That this House notes that:

(a) the climate risks that impact on state agency assets and services include flooding, bushfires and extreme temperatures, which can result in damage to tranport, communications, energy and social infrastructure, increases in hospital admissions and making social housing and schools no longer suitable for use,

(b) adaptation responses than can be planned for include controlling development in floodprone locations, proactive asset maintenance to reduce disruption of essential services, ensuring demand for health services can be met during heatwaves, improving thermal comfort in schools to support student engagement, and safeguarding infrastructure from more frequent and intense natural disasters,

(c) climate risk requires a coordinated government response and each agency needs to be supported by NSW Treasury to manage the physical risks to assets and services associated
with climate change,

(d) the previous Liberal-National Government pledged in 2016 to create a statewide climate change adaptation play by 2017 but never completed it,

(e) the NSW Audit Office released a scathing report in September 2021 entitled "Managing climate risks to assets and services", stating that key agencies with critical assets and services had not even conducted climate change risk assessment, yet alone developed adaptation plans,

(f) as at the date of the Audit Office report, many state agencies that own or manage assets and provide services did not have climate risk management in place, and at least one-third of physical assets by government entities had not been included in climate risk assessments,

(g) New South Wales is behind the rest of Australia in relation to climate adaptation risk assessment and adaptation, and

(h) despite repeated calls from The Greens NSW and independents, the previous Liberal National Government had not released a climate adaptation plan by the end of its term, releasing only a strategy in 2022 to have a plan by some later time.

(2) That this House calls on the Government to implement the recommendations in the Audit Office report, including urgently delivering a climate change adaptation action plan for the State.

TAX SUPERPROFITS TO PAY WORKERS MORE

NSW is missing out on tens of billions of dollars. By introducing a progressive coal royalty structure similar to the one in Queensland, we would have raised an extra $20 billion last year.

The NSW Government owns and controls, on behalf of the people of this state, the rights to the minerals and materials that naturally occur in NSW land.

Huge fossil fuel companies are only able to extract and sell these commodities with the consent of the State. It’s time they paid a fair price for that privilege.

The fossil fuel industry has made hundreds of billions of dollars out of their cosy relationship with governments. Granted permission to extract and sell coal, these large multinational fossil fuel corporations pay just over 7% in royalties back to the people of NSW – keeping the rest as mega-profits for themselves. These companies have a track record of taking more than their fair share and leaving communities suffering and stranded with poisoned groundwater, devastated landscapes and a stranded workforce when it suits their business models.

Globally, the hyper-inflation of fossil fuel prices driven by price-gouging opportunism and war profiteering from Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has delivered record windfall profits to these already obscenely wealthy corporations. In the last year, NSW coal exports totaled over $70 billion dollars, but the people of NSW will only see about 7 cents in every dollar, or about $6 billion dollars of that amount.

Rather than going toward schools, hospitals and public infrastructure, billions of dollars went into the pockets of multinational mining corporations. The Greens believe there should be more money for schools and hospitals and less for mining billionaires.

Sign our petition calling on the NSW Labor Government to increase coal royalties to invest in communities.

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NSW still needs a climate change adaptation action plan

TAX SUPERPROFITS TO PAY WORKERS MORE

Sign our petition calling on the NSW Labor Government to increase coal royalties to invest in communities.

Will you sign?

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