ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDERS OFFICE NSW
Media Release
The New
South Wales Government has introduced legislation to prevent the regulation of
greenhouse gas emissions from Australian coal burned overseas. The move came
just days after the Government launched a review of the Independent Planning
Commission, following a sustained advertising and lobbying campaign by the NSW
Minerals Council.
25
October 2019: The
Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Territorial
Limits) Bill 2019 was introduced into Parliament on Thursday.
EDO CEO
David Morris greeted Wednesday’s announcement of the legislative package as
indicating “an unwillingness to grapple with the serious local impacts from
Australian coal burned overseas.”
“A day
after the Minerals Council gave evidence to ICAC that they were lobbying
privately and publicly for changes to the law, the Government has capitulated,
without regard for current or future generations.
“It
doesn’t matter where Australian coal is burned, it’s Australian communities
that are and will increasingly feel the brunt of a changing climate. The
Government’s decision artificially carves out climate impacts from Australian
coal on local communities – that is an absurd decision.
“In 2019,
as the rest of the world rapidly phases out fossil fuels, we should be urgently
planning for a just transition for coal and gas communities and a safe climate
for our children. Instead, the NSW Government wants to make it law to ignore
Australia’s most significant contribution to the problem - emissions from
exports. It would appear that this Government’s only plan for addressing the
climate crisis is to turn a blind eye.
“The most
significant climate judgment in this nation’s history was based on scientific
evidence. The Rocky Hill decision made it clear – emissions from Australian
coal are not something that happen ‘over there’, they have a deep and lasting
impact here at home. That’s why we have to take responsibility for those
emissions, and it’s appropriate our laws reflect that. A decision to remove
that requirement would be a retrograde step and inconsistent with a
science-based response to managing climate change.
“The
greatest trick the Minerals Council has played is to hoodwink us into thinking
that our export of fossil fuels has no effect locally. That is wrong. It is not
based in science.
“As
Professor Will Steffen said in the Rocky Hill case, “it is one climate system”.
Because of that, burning NSW coal overseas impacts communities here at home. It
defies logic that in a time of severe drought and bushfires, a political party
claiming to be for and from the bush would legislate against consideration of
climate impacts from Australian coal on our communities. Perhaps they don’t
think the impacts of climate change on NSW communities matter. Perhaps they
don’t accept the science. In either case, it is an indictment on the
Government.
“The
beauty of the Rocky Hill decision was its basis in science and fact. The
appalling thing about the Government’s decision is that it’s based on pure
politics and self interest.”
