We are in a climate crisis, but both major parties are beholden to the fossil fuel billionaires making it worse. The Labor State Government is still supporting coal and gas, and they have no plan for fossil fuel workers. We need urgent action in Queensland to keep warming below catastrophic levels and give workers a fair, planned transition to a clean economy.
Queensland is both a major contributor to the climate crisis and on the frontlines of some of its worst impacts, so the State Government has a responsibility to take serious action.
We need:
- 100% publicly owned renewables by 2030 and zero emissions by 2035
- No new coal, oil or gas, to phase out all fossil fuels, including exports, by 2030
- Workforce planning to give fossil fuel workers and communities certainty and a fair deal, including localised retraining, redeployment and income guarantee plans for displaced workers
- To end the special deals for fossil fuel companies by increasing royalties and ensuring they pay their fair share
The scientific evidence is clear that without this urgent action, we cannot limit warming to 1.5 degrees as per the Paris Agreement, and Queensland will be hit by more climate-related disasters like floods, cyclones, droughts and heatwaves. There is no escaping this reality, and it sounds pretty grim. But the climate crisis is also an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to make life better for everyone as well as cleaning up our economy. We could transform Australia into a carbon-neutral powerhouse that priorities new jobs in industries of the future, and makes our society better and fairer in the process.
I know local residents in my electorate want strong action on climate change, and that’s why I am constantly talking about it in the Queensland Parliament.
Climate Bills I've introduced
During my first term as your MP I introduced a Bill that would have stopped the Adani coal mine and all other coal mines in the Galilee Basin. The Mineral Resources (Galilee Basin) Amendment Bill 2018 would support Australia’s commitments to help keep global warming below 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels by 2100 by banning coal mining in the Galilee Basin. You can watch my speech introducing the Bill to Parliament here and read the explanatory notes to the Bill here.
In 2023, I introduced the Queensland Climate Transition Bill, which would ban new coal, oil and gas projects, legislate stronger emissions reduction targets that are consistent with current science and the Paris Agreement, and create a new Queensland Climate Transition Authority, to consult and work with affected workers and communities on a fair transition plan as we phase out fossil fuel exports by 2030.
You can find out more about the Climate Transition Bill here.