Tuesday, 18 June 2024

Energy policy

Tim READ (Brunswick) (15:39): Visitors to Victoria’s Great Ocean Road will soon get more than they bargained for. Not only can they marvel at our state’s stunning natural landscape, but as they take in the view they can contemplate the astonishing decision of the Victorian Labor government to approve fossil gas extraction right near the Twelve Apostles starting this month. Labor, the Liberals and the gas industry want us to believe that gas has a role in the transition to clean energy, but everyone from Environment Victoria to the United Nations is clear that the only role for gas is to delay the energy transition while cooking our climate and enriching fossil fuel barons. And for what? The project will give us less than a year’s worth of fossil gas, which will be burnt into our atmosphere while littering the area with new gas infrastructure for future generations to clean up – and this project is just the beginning. Labor also plans to allow whale-deafening seismic blasting for offshore gas exploration later this year. The Greens and I will continue to work with traditional owners, the environmental groups and the thousands of community members opposing this project to do everything we can to stop Labor’s new fossil fuels.