PECAN has assessed the three major parties in Macnamara by examining their policies and, where possible, practices. Keeping in mind we are facing a climate and environmental emergency we have done our best to assess how each party’s policies and practices address the immense challenge we face.

Based on our scorecard, PECAN recommends that you put the Liberals candidate last on your ballot paper.

This PECAN Climate Scorecard is founded on the fact that we face climate breakdown caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Temperature rise has now exceeded 1.5 degrees and continues to rise. Fossil fuels must be replaced by renewables to have a liveable world. Unregulated industrial processes have also done great damage to our environment.

The five criteria above against which we mark the parties are numbered 1-5 below and each party’s position is described in a little more detail below.

1. Replacing fossil fuels with renewables as an energy source in Australia is not only good for the climate but reduces energy costs. As Australia has the best conditions for renewables in the world, it can show the world that a 100% renewable based future can happen. A transition to a new renewable based energy system should be a just transition which meets the needs of impacted communities.

• In government, Labor has adopted a target of 82% renewable electricity by 2030, and has implemented policies to support this – the Capacity Investment Scheme and Rewiring Australia. Labor has said it will increase the target beyond 2030.
• The Greens support rapidly expanding renewable energy. Their party policy platform supports “100% of electricity used in Australia to come from renewable sources as soon as possible”.
• Liberal policies envisage a dangerous nuclear future, that will slow the roll out of renewables and prolong and extend fossil fuel use.

2. For this transition to work, all households must be supported to transition away from fossil fuel based electricity and appliances in the home to renewable energy and electric appliances.

• The Greens support providing grants and low interest loans for homes and businesses to electrify and install solar and batteries, and building publicly owned renewable energy.
• Labor has announced it will support household batteries, consistent with its ambition to reach a high share of renewable power by 2030.
• The Liberals policies discourage the spread of renewables and have not offered any support for household electrification.

3. The amount of fossil fuels burnt is already overheating the planet. So opening even more massive fossil fuel projects when there are alternatives makes a bad situation worse. About eighty percent of fossil fuels extracted from the land and sea of Australia are exported by mainly global corporations and, once burnt, contribute significantly to unlivable global heating.

• The Greens policy is to disallow new fossil fuel projects. Furthermore, only the Greens have a plan and timeline to phase out the export of fossil fuels such as thermal coal.
• Labor’s Gas Strategy envisages gas expansion (particularly for export) into the 2070’s and the Labor Government has allowed the expansion of new thermal coal mines for coal export.
• The Liberals policy is to increase government support to expand fossil fuel extraction, use and export.

4. Without the protection of good, strongly enforced environmental laws our environment will be imperilled by companies only concerned with making short term economic gains at the expense of the environment. Although the biggest threat to our environment is climate breakdown, Australia’s current Nature Laws do not require the assessment of the climate impacts of projects on the environment.

• Labor has a mixed record on Nature Laws – improvements in some areas, e.g. environmental protection of oceans, while going backward in others e.g. removing the power to review old environmental decisions. It proposes improving Nature Laws if elected but does not propose the assessment of climate impacts of projects (a ‘climate trigger’) in the nature law.
• The Greens advocate a climate trigger in the new laws, ending native forest logging and spending more on the environment.
• The Liberals have attacked independent bodies like the CSIRO and want to reduce environmental regulation (‘cut green tape’) including defunding bodies that scrutinise government environmental decision making.

5. Local climate action needs to be supported to deal with local impacts like flooding and heating and to amplify climate action.

• In Macnamara both the Greens and the Labor party have promised support for the Port Phillip Eco Centre and Yalukit Willam Nature Reserve.
• The Liberals have not made any commitments to support local climate action.

You can find out more about the Greens, Labor and Liberal party climate positions and policies here.

Some other climate scorecards are also well worth checking out. You can even do a quiz at the ACF site.

Australian Conservation Foundation Scorecard
Climate Council Climate Scorecard