NSW Liberals out - ALP in

Saturday’s NSW state election saw the Liberal-National Coalition’s twelve-year run of governing NSW finally overturned by Labor. Chris Minns has been elected as state’s new premier, with the ALP Government on track to win a majority in the lower house. True to form, the oil and gas lobby has already urged the incoming Government to “recognise the crucial role that fossil fuels play” (!) and deliver on the controversial Narrabri gas project - not even a fortnight after UN chief Antonio Gueterres called for “a renewables revolution, not a self-destructive fossil fuel resurgence.”

Talks on the Labor Government’s flagship climate policy, the Safeguard Mechanism will be centre stage this week as MPs return to Canberra for the last sitting week before the federal budget in May. Labor needs the support of the Greens plus two crossbenchers to get the bill through the Senate, with the Greens continuing their call for the government to stop all new coal and gas projects in return for their support.

Meanwhile Mr Guterres has delivered an urgent call for the world to modify and safeguard water resources to avert conflict and ensure future global prosperity. 

Top Stories

‘All or nothing’ is not the right approach to climate policy, campaigner tells Bandt
Longstanding environmental campaigner and friend of Greens founder Bob Brown Geoff Cousins has urged Greens leader Adam Bandt to vote with Labor to pass the Safeguard Mechanism bill in parliament this week.

Businesses urge support for safeguard mechanism
AI Group chief executive Innes Willox said parliament needed to come to a workable agreement on the safeguard mechanism as soon as possible to ensure its success.

Analysis: NSW election trends: a decisive Labor win, uneven swings and a large crossbench
The recent NSW state election saw a lot of parallels with last year’s federal election result, with a slim parliamentary majority alongside a large crossbench and the outgoing government badly defeated. But this Labor victory was bigger than last year’s federal election result, and Labor managed to pick up a number of regional seats in addition to gains in urban areas.

APPEA Chief Executive Samantha McCulloch congratulates Labor on election victory, urges strategy for gas in NSW
The nation’s oil and gas lobby has called on the incoming Labor government to recognise the crucial role that fossil fuels play in New South Wales. The message to Labor from the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) comes after repeated warnings of higher electricity bills for households and businesses.

Calls for fuel efficiency standards in Australia
The Electric Vehicle Council has renewed calls for the federal government to introduce mandatory fuel efficiency standards in Australia, off the back of its popularity in New Zealand. Electric vehicle market share of new car sales in New Zealand has soared from four per cent to 20 per cent in recent months and figures show about 62 per cent of Kiwis believe the standards are good policy for the nation.

‘What is this thing?’: EV utes are winning converts in the bush
A showcase of the latest EV utes is proving what the next generation of utes can do, creating a lucrative industry converting high-polluting diesel utes into zero-emission vehicles and  advocating for policy change.

Humanity must chart new course on water use: UN chief
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has delivered an urgent call for the world to modify and safeguard water resources to avert conflict and ensure future global prosperity. Water is "the most precious common good," and "needs to be at the center of the global political agenda," Guterres said at the end of a three-day UN conference that experts said held a measure of promise.

Kerry on climate: ‘We have to work with China’ and other top polluters to avoid disaster
Former Secretary of State and Biden administration’s special envoy on climate John Kerry says the United States is committed to working with the nations we may have political differences with — including China and Russia — to meet climate goals and avoid catastrophic consequences. “Our president has tried very hard to separate climate from the other issues,” says Kerry, adding, “We can’t get bogged down by that because this is a universally felt, existential challenge to the planet.”

Miners grapple with green steel as they rush to decarbonise
BHP, Australia’s largest mining company, will design and build an electric smelting furnace pilot plant capable of producing steel from iron ore using renewable electricity and hydrogen, replacing coking coal, a key source of carbon emissions.

Green tenants to drive warehouse ‘churn’ as net zero targets loom
A push by major industrial occupiers to achieve net-zero carbon emission targets is expected to fuel significant leasing “churn” over the coming years, as companies seek premises that will help them meet their environmental goals.

Future Tasmania: State’s new biomass strategy to harness organic waste
The Tasmanian state government will invest $10.1 million to upgrade aging fossil fuel boilers at 20 schools, hospitals and correctional facilities across Tasmania as part of its new bioenergy strategy.

Not a fringe issue: the hairdressers trained to talk to their clients about climate change – video
The owner of hairdressing salon Paloma in Paddington has organised seminars for hairdressers across Sydney to instruct them on how to talk to their clients about climate action.