Wednesday, 21 June 2023

Bills

Energy and Resources Legislation Amendment (Transition Away from Coal) Bill 2023

Introduction

Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (09:33): I move:

That I introduce a bill for an act to amend the Environment Protection Act 2017 to prohibit the authorisation of thermal coal activity under a licence, to amend the Renewable Energy (Jobs and Investment) Act 2017 to increase the renewable energy target for Victoria, to amend the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990 to prohibit the exploration for or mining of coal and to amend the Constitution Act 1975 to entrench some of those amendments and for other purposes.

I wish to speak to the motion. We know the climate crisis is real. We know it is happening right now, and it is only set to get worse. I hope no-one in this chamber seriously doubts that. Therefore there could be no more important issue and no more urgent issue than this. Our very future, the future of our kids and the future of humanity, depends on humans taking every possible action to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis, and yet we have no plan and no legislation in Victoria to phase out coal. That is exactly why I am bringing this bill today and asking for this chamber’s support in allowing me to first read this bill today, because it simply cannot wait one more day. Every day that we wait, every day that we delay is a day closer to complete climate collapse. That is what the science is telling us.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Wendouree is warned.

Ellen SANDELL: Just two weeks ago scientists sounded the alarm that Arctic and Antarctic ice is melting much, much faster than we have ever thought. That means that places where hundreds of millions of people – hundreds of millions of people – currently live are going to go under water. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report last year made it very, very clear: developed economies like Victoria simply must keep all fossil fuels in the ground. No more coal, no more gas – it really is that simple.

I know that this government prides itself on taking action on renewables, and I know that it has done some really hard work to support more renewable energy. I know they want an energy transition and are working towards that. But the simple fact of the matter is this: we cannot give with one hand and take with the other. We cannot build renewables with one hand, even as fast as we are, and continue to dig up coal or burn gas – and in fact create new uses and new markets for coal – with the other hand. Yet here in Victoria that is the government’s plan. Not only is it the government’s plan to keep our brown coal plants operating beyond 2030, but Labor is now throwing its support behind a new coal project in the Latrobe Valley, the so-called Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain or HESC project, which wants to extend the life of coalmining in Victoria and turn the dirtiest brown coal in the world into hydrogen for export to Japan. This is a project that would put 3.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, despite Labor’s hopes that we can bury these underground somehow with a technology that has not been proven at this scale anywhere in the world.

That is why we urgently need a plan to phase out coal now, and that is why we need this bill. What this bill does is ban coal post 2030, and it is very important that we first read it in the Victorian Parliament today. The bill sets 2030 as the absolute last possible date that thermal coal activities can happen in Victoria. That means no mining, no burning, no turning coal into hydrogen or any other use. And it enshrines that ban on coalmining into the constitution so that it is much harder to be overturned. If we can do it for fracking because that process is so toxic, we can do it for coalmining too.

We are living in a climate crisis. Sometimes in here it does not feel like it because we are discussing so many other issues, but we are living in a crisis, and we are quickly running out of time. Experts warn the earth is headed for the make-or-break 1.5-degree limit within just five years – five years. It is looking more and more likely Victoria will face another El Niño at the end of this year and with it the threat of more Black Summer bushfires, more drought, more disasters. We cannot put a fire out while continuing to throw fuel on it. We cannot afford to give fossil fuels a lifeline. The stakes are simply too high. That is why I urge this house – every member – to reflect on their duties to the community and their duties to the future. Allow a debate on this bill, which would leave brown coal, the dirtiest of all the fossil fuels, in the ground for good.

Gabrielle DE VIETRI (Richmond) (09:38): I rise to speak in support of the motion to end coal. There are two questions at play here. The first is whether this chamber should allow private members bills to be debated, and the second is whether this bill is important and urgent enough to allow it to go to debate despite Labor’s convention of voting down all non-government business.

On the first point, non-government members should be able to bring bills to this chamber and have them debated. The fact that we cannot is rare, unusual and, quite frankly, embarrassing. In the Westminster system this is not the norm. In fact this chamber is the only chamber in the Westminster system to deny private members bills. This is the house of the people, and all electorates should have their representatives heard on matters of importance.

Secondly, this bill is urgent and important enough to be brought on right now for debate. Record-setting global temperatures, rising sea levels, food and water insecurity, extreme weather, catastrophic disasters, displacement of people, lives lost – these are the impacts of the climate crisis, and they are just the beginning of what we are on track to experience. They are the tip of the proverbial melting iceberg. This is not new or niche information, and yet in the middle of a climate crisis Labor is supporting a major coal project, a new brown coal project, the dirtiest coal that there is, a leading cause of the climate crisis. They are actively bringing on this coal project, and this directly undermines their own stated target for emissions reductions. The Labor Treasurer has said that this project will not add to Victoria’s emissions, because we will capture the emissions through carbon capture and storage – this myth, CCS technology. But CCS technology is a farce. Time and time again it has grossly underdelivered on emissions reductions, and it is viewed by experts across the world as a monumental failure. Burying carbon is just like burying your head in the sand when it comes to climate change. Chevron’s Gorgon gas project in WA purported to capture its emissions through CCS but we know failed abysmally to get anywhere near what it promised. In fact the Climate Council refers to CCS as a licence to pollute.

That is why I support the Energy and Resources Legislation Amendment (Transition Away from Coal) Bill 2023, which aims to stop new coal projects like this dirty coal project in the Latrobe Valley and prevent future coal exploration and mining. This bill will enshrine a ban on coalmining in our constitution and ensure that future governments cannot simply reverse the decision. Most of us in this place know that climate crisis is the defining issue of our time. Not allowing this bill to progress to a debate is not only undemocratic but a severe disregard for our duty to represent the people of Victoria and prevent the devastating impacts of climate change.

James NEWBURY (Brighton) (09:42): At the outset I would say that the coalition does not support the substance of this bill. However, we do support the right of non-government members to have their voices heard in this place. The member for South Barwon has been interjecting throughout this debate that this is the government’s chamber and only the government has a right to do anything or be heard in this chamber. That is the level of arrogance that is coming from this government.

Mary-Anne Thomas: On a point of order, Speaker, this is a debate on the introduction of a bill, and I ask that you call the Manager of Opposition Business back to speaking to the bill.

The SPEAKER: On the point of order, I would ask you to come back to debating the introduction of the bill.

James NEWBURY: The coalition have repeatedly said – in every sitting week, I imagine – that we support the right of non-government members to have their voices heard in this place. This is not a government chamber; this is the people’s place. This is the place where the people of Victoria elect their representatives from their local communities to be heard, and every member should have the right to be heard. Again, the coalition do not support the substance of this bill, but we do support the right for every member to be heard and we will be supporting the right for the bill to be introduced.

This bill follows another instance yesterday where the government blocked the opportunity of introducing new integrity measures in this state –

Mary-Anne Thomas: On a point of order, Speaker, I am sure that you can anticipate my point of order. It is a debate on the introduction of a bill, and I ask that you bring the Manager of Opposition Business back to that matter.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Manager of Opposition Business will come back to the introduction of the bill.

James NEWBURY: I was speaking to the introduction of a bill that was blocked by the government yesterday. I will finish by saying that the government are arrogant in the way that they are blocking any member of this place from having their voice heard, and the coalition will support the introduction of the bill by the Greens.

Assembly divided on motion:

Ayes (30): Brad Battin, Jade Benham, Roma Britnell, Tim Bull, Martin Cameron, Annabelle Cleeland, Chris Crewther, Gabrielle de Vietri, Wayne Farnham, Sam Groth, Sam Hibbins, David Hodgett, Emma Kealy, Tim McCurdy, Cindy McLeish, James Newbury, Danny O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Kim O’Keeffe, John Pesutto, Tim Read, Richard Riordan, Brad Rowswell, Ellen Sandell, David Southwick, Bill Tilley, Bridget Vallence, Peter Walsh, Kim Wells, Jess Wilson

Noes (54): Juliana Addison, Jacinta Allan, Colin Brooks, Josh Bull, Anthony Carbines, Ben Carroll, Darren Cheeseman, Anthony Cianflone, Sarah Connolly, Chris Couzens, Jordan Crugnale, Lily D’Ambrosio, Daniela De Martino, Steve Dimopoulos, Paul Edbrooke, Will Fowles, Matt Fregon, Ella George, Luba Grigorovitch, Bronwyn Halfpenny, Katie Hall, Paul Hamer, Martha Haylett, Mathew Hilakari, Melissa Horne, Natalie Hutchins, Lauren Kathage, Sonya Kilkenny, Nathan Lambert, Gary Maas, Alison Marchant, Kathleen Matthews-Ward, Steve McGhie, Paul Mercurio, John Mullahy, Tim Pallas, Danny Pearson, Pauline Richards, Tim Richardson, Michaela Settle, Ros Spence, Nick Staikos, Natalie Suleyman, Meng Heang Tak, Jackson Taylor, Nina Taylor, Kat Theophanous, Mary-Anne Thomas, Emma Vulin, Iwan Walters, Vicki Ward, Dylan Wight, Gabrielle Williams, Belinda Wilson

Motion defeated.