Wednesday, 31 July 2024

 Tim READ (Brunswick) (10:40): Sunday 21 July was the world’s hottest day ever recorded for all of 24 hours, until an even hotter Monday 22 July smashed the previous day’s record. The Olympics are well underway, but when it comes to the climate, breaking world records is not such a good thing. It is bad news for us and worse news for the young people and future generations who will experience the worst of human-induced climate change unless we act fast. So today in the Legislative Council the Greens are introducing a bill to enshrine a legal right to a safe climate in Victoria’s human rights charter. This would require the government to consider the climate impacts of their decisions. If the government’s rhetoric on climate action is to be believed, this legislation is something they should welcome with open arms. Finally there will be a legal reason for them to just say no to new coal and gas projects, and if for some reason they still decide to burn more fossil fuels in a climate crisis, well, the public will have one more tool to hold them to account. Governments around the world are already passing similar laws, and now that the federal Labor government has rejected a climate duty of care, it is time for Victoria to step up. I call on the Allan Labor government to support the Greens bill and enshrine the right to a safe climate in Victoria’s human rights charter.