Wednesday, 3 December 2025

 Anthony CIANFLONE (Pascoe Vale) (19:22): (1468) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Climate Action, and the action I seek is for the minister to visit my electorate and provide an update to my community on the launch of the Victorian Labor government’s new climate change strategy 2026–30. Our environment is fundamental to all life on earth, and we also know that fossil fuels and coal-fired energy generators remain the leading cause of carbon emissions, fuelling the effects of climate change. In fact 65.3 per cent of Victoria’s emissions continue to come from coal-fired power stations and the burning of coal and gas. That is why we continue to take that real action to combat and mitigate the impacts of climate change and to help build a more sustainable and resilient renewable energy network to drive down emissions via bringing back the State Electricity Commission, the SEC, for an initial $1 billion investment in renewable energy projects. We will continue to lead Australian jurisdictions in renewable energy efforts, with the earliest net zero emissions target of any Australian state. We have got the ambitious global target of 75 per cent to 80 per cent carbon reductions by 2035. Forty-two per cent of electricity produced in Victoria was renewable energy in 2024–25, and we have reduced our carbon emissions by 31.4 per cent, and we are within our 2025 emissions target. Thirty per cent of Victorian homes have now installed solar thanks to our Solar Homes program, and 100 per cent of electricity is now supplied by the State Electricity Commission for Victoria’s hospitals, schools, trains and other government operations. Eight times more zero-emission vehicles have been sold in Victoria compared to 2021, and 1.8 million hectares of state forest is now protected by the ending of native timber harvesting six years earlier, thanks to the Victorian Labor government.

As our emissions have been driven down, our economy has of course continued to grow. Every $1 invested to improve climate resilience, the strategy has shown, is envisaged to deliver a $9.60 return on investment over the coming years. Victoria’s energy workforce is projected to grow by more than 60 per cent by 2040, to 67,000 workers. But it is also about the local investments we have been making across Pascoe Vale, Coburg and Brunswick West on Moonee Ponds Creek, Merri Creek, Edgars Creek and Westbreen Creek. It is about the work we are doing through recycling, the circular economy and the container deposit scheme, where people are able to recycle their bottles, cans and containers to get that 10-cent refund, because plastic will continue to remain an ongoing problem. I just want to quote former member for Pascoe Vale the Honourable Kelvin Thomson, who best summarised this, I believe:

When I was young, there was hardly any plastic around at all. But now, on average, every Australian produces 100kg of plastic waste every year, that is, more than their own body weight! Unfortunately, plastic waste tends to end up in our waterways and oceans. Scientists estimate that the way we are going, by 2050 the weight of plastic in our oceans will equal or exceed the weight of all the fish! It is estimated that 99% of seabirds worldwide have ingested plastic.

It is for that reason that we need to continue taking that real action on climate change.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Before I call the minister, the member for Prahran’s question was more in line with a constituency question. Which action did you seek from the minister?

Rachel Westaway: Can the minister provide an update on the government’s action plan to manage the Metro Tunnel’s Big Switch?