CLIMATE EMERGENCY
DECLARATION — FEDERAL LABOR POLICY
1137. Hon TIM CLIFFORD to the Leader of the House
representing the Premier:
I refer to today's
announcement that the federal Labor shadow minister for climate change and
energy will move a motion in the Australian Parliament today to declare a climate
emergency.
(1) Does the
Premier stand by his comments last week that Australia and Western Australia
are not in a climate emergency; and will the Premier please explain the reason
behind these comments?
(2) Given that federal Labor agrees that there is a climate
emergency, what correspondence has the Premier had with his federal
Labor counterparts about Western Australia and Australia being in a climate
emergency?
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1) The Premier
stated last week that he was not prepared to declare a climate emergency, or
commit Western Australia to a policy of net
zero emissions by 2020. Such a policy would destroy Western Australia's
economy and lead to mass unemployment. The Premier noted that Western Australia
has a massively improved take-up of renewable energy and that worldwide we need
to act more on conservation, climate change, marine protection and elimination
of waste.
(2) The Premier has not had any
correspondence with his federal colleagues on this issue.