I rise to condemn Labor’s approval of new offshore gas projects. It beggars belief that in the middle of a climate crisis the Victorian Labor government has given Beach Energy a permit to drill for and extract gas under the ocean right near the Twelve Apostles when we know that fossil fuels need to be left in the ground to have any chance of keeping temperature rises to below 1.5 degrees. Now the federal Labor government have, unbelievably, opened up vast areas of Commonwealth waters for gas drilling just 5 kilometres from the Twelve Apostles. Just last week was the earth’s hottest day ever, but Labor and Liberal just do not seem to comprehend the magnitude of the crisis. They are going all in on gas and all in on the extraction of even more fossil fuels.
Just this week I stood on the steps with young people who are calling for the right to a safe climate to be included in Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities so the state government would be required to consider whether any new policies or legislation could make climate change worse, particularly for future generations. The intergenerational responsibility we have in this place is momentous. It needs to be made clear: fossil fuels need to stay in the ground. Otherwise the government is selling out generations of Victorians and making climate change worse.
