Tuesday, 22 September 2026

 Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (15:43): Extreme heat is more deadly than bushfires, floods, storms and cyclones combined. Extreme heat can kill by affecting the heart, kidneys or respiratory system, and it disproportionately impacts older people, outdoor workers and people in poorly cooled homes. For anyone who has not noticed or is trying to ignore it desperately, our world is getting hotter. August 2026 was the hottest month on record, and we are staring down the barrel of the fastest developing El Niño on record. The evidence is clear: slowing down or going backwards on climate action will kill people. The Greens are the only party taking this threat seriously. We are the only ones with a plan to end coal and gas – because we are the only ones who are not funded by the fossil fuel companies who are profiting from destroying the climate and from endangering our communities. Labor have opened five new fossil fuel projects in Victoria in the past year, approving 37 across the nation, even drilling near the Twelve Apostles, and the Liberals and One Nation want more coal, gas and logging. And they are all in a race to the bottom when it comes to transmission infrastructure that is crucial to switching to clean and affordable renewables. The Greens will replace Labor’s coal and gas with cheaper, publicly owned renewable energy to cut climate pollution, and we will permanently lower Victorians’ energy bills in doing so.