Plibersek’s broken promise spurs climate protests

by WENDY BACON

Climate action groups on Monday began 12 days of action aimed at stopping new coal and gas projects by delivering hundreds of postcards to Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s Redfern office.

The protest was the first of 50 actions across Australia organised by a new coalition of climate action groups including Move Beyond Coal, 350.org, Rising Tide, the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC), GetUp!, Lock The Gate, Extinction Rebellion Drum Rebellion, and Knitting Nannas.

Already frustrated by the Albanese government’s failure to stop new fossil fuel projects, climate activists were bitterly disappointed when Plibersek made it clear last week that she had indefinitely delayed reforms to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. She had previously promised to pass new legislation by the end of 2023. The reforms were expected to introduce a ‘climate trigger’ and other changes that would help prevent further fossil fuel project approvals and species extinction. The current EPBC laws, created by the conservative Howard government, make no mention of climate change, and outsource federal responsibilities to the states and territories.

If Plibersek and her advisors hoped that the announcement of two new agencies, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency and Environment Information Australia, would deflect from her decision to delay these more fundamental reforms, they were wrong. Within two days of Plibersek’s announcement, more than 100 environment groups had signed an open letter calling on the Federal government to stick to its election promise to reform the EPBC act.

The progressive thinktank The Australia Institute accused Plibersek of leaving an open door for at least 30 new fossil fuel projects to be approved under existing law. These projects represent 17 billion tonnes of emissions (or 30 years of Australia’s total annual emissions) and include 25 new coal projects plus Woodside’s Burrup Hub expansion that would release over 5 billion tonnes of carbon emissions.

Australia is already the world’s largest exporter of coal. It is the third biggest exporter of fossil fuels and export emissions dwarf those produced domestically.

While welcoming the two new agencies, the Environmental Defenders’ Office (EDO) advised that they would not be sufficient to stop extinctions. “These are necessary elements of a functioning regulatory scheme, but will they alone save honeyeaters, curlews and skates? No. Without a comprehensive overhaul of the EPBC Act, the new institutions will simply be monitoring and regulating broken laws,” the EDO wrote on its website.

Patti Burton, Move Beyond Coal’s spokesperson at the rally accused Plibersek of caving to pressure from the fossil fuel lobby to delay environmental law reform. “The Albanese Labor government promised that they would fix our broken environment laws but they don’t have the guts to stand up to the coal and gas bullies. This is not good enough. This broken promise only fuels more dangerous climate change. It will allow more coal and gas projects to get through and could lead to the extinction of koalas and the annihilation of places like the Great Barrier Reef.”

“The Albanese government still has a choice to make – continue to be on the side of big coal and gas companies and create further delays and worsening climate change impacts seen over the chaotic summer that we’ve just had or stand with communities and deliver on the environmental laws that they promised at the [2022] election,” she told the protest.

Recently, the Financial Review revealed that Western Australian Premier Roger Cook had lobbied both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Plibersek urging them to delay the reforms which he argues will disproportionately impact Western Australian businesses. Cook said he had received assurances from Albanese and Plibersek that the consultation process would engage stakeholders on both sides and that laws would only be introduced “when they are ready.”

Plibersek says she wants to “get it right” with “sensible updates” but has not explained how her approach fits with warnings by leading climate scientists that decisive action is urgent and that the window may have already closed to hold warming to 1.5 degrees. 2023 was the hottest year on record and the Great Barrier Reef has suffered its worst mass bleaching this year, the fifth bleaching event in eight years.

To climate protesters Plibersek’s approach sounds not so much “sensible” as dangerous appeasement with the fossil fuel industry. It’s not so much a matter of listening to different interest groups as taking heed of physics.

In March 2023, about when the draft bill to reform the EPBC act should have been ready, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued what was called a “final warning” before global warming exceeds 1.5 degrees Celsius. It made it clear that no new fossil fuel projects could be opened if warming was to remain within that limit. Already at 1.1 degree warming, heatwaves, bushfires, storms and droughts are increasing. Hitting 1.5C will escalate these extreme events. 3.6 billion people are already considered highly vulnerable. Many more people will die or have their lives destroyed by disasters, and species and natural systems that have existed for millennia will become extinct.

In this context, we can expect that more Australians are likely to decide that ‘science’ rather than ‘pragmatic’ politics should guide their decisions and join peaceful direct action movements.

Grassroots movement Rising Tide was present at yesterday’s protest. It was responsible for hundreds of protesters on kayaks shutting down the world’s biggest coal port at Newcastle for 32 hours last November. Thousands from all states of Australia attended. 109 protesters were arrested. Those arrested were mostly placed on bonds with no conviction recorded by a magistrate who understood their reasons for taking action. Rising Tide are already planning a much longer and bigger direct action this year to support their goal of shutting down the world’s biggest coal export port by 2030.

Wendy Bacon is a retired Professor of Journalism who supported the 2023 Rising Tide protest.