Thursday, 29 May 2025

Western Victoria Region

Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (12:56): (1616) My question is for the Minister for Energy and Resources. The floods across northern New South Wales and the drought in Victoria are devastating. Our hearts are with those who have been impacted, and thanks go to the emergency service volunteers who are hard at work protecting our communities. Remember this is a climate disaster. Floods and droughts are being made worse by the climate crisis, which is fuelled by mining and burning coal and gas, and Labor knows this. Yet the Victorian Labor government still supports new coal and gas projects. Earlier this year their federal colleagues the Albanese government approved a new offshore gas project in the Otway Basin just off the coast of my electorate. You can see it from the Twelve Apostles. New fossil fuel projects are making the climate crisis worse. My constituents in Western Victoria want to know: what conversations did the minister have with Victorian constituents before her federal colleagues approved the ConocoPhillips project?