Australian Greens Senator for NSW, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has visited Port Macquarie. The Senator, who formerly lived and worked in Port Macquarie, has visited the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital and called for more support for communities and firefighters.

Senator Faruqi said:

“Port Macquarie is my second home and my heart really goes out to the community who have suffered so much in and around the mid-north coast. We are seeing an unprecedented tragedy that has destroyed so much in the community and in the environment.

I move: That the Senate—

(a) notes with deep concern that:

   (i) over a hundred fires continue to burn across New South Wales,

   (ii) data from the New South Wales Department of Environment shows harmful pollutants in Sydney's air are already over three times worse than at any moment in the past five years during bushfire season,

   (iii) the toxicity of the air in some parts of Sydney is the equivalent of smoking between four and ten cigarettes a day,

   (iv) particle pollution can trigger heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer and asthma attacks,

Australian Greens Senator for NSW, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has said Labor and the Coalition have betrayed the Central Coast and Newcastle Community by voting down a Greens motion calling for genuine community consultation on Asset Energy’s plan to conduct seismic testing for gas.

Greens climate and energy spokesperson Adam Bandt MP has slammed the government’s latest push for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, dismissing it as a useless pipedream.

I, and also on behalf of Senator Waters, move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

   (i) states of emergency have been declared in New South Wales and Queensland due to catastrophic bushfire risk,

   (ii) lives have been lost, more than 150 homes have been destroyed, and almost 1,000,000 hectares of land in New South Wales have been razed since the start of this year's unprecedented bushfire season,

   (iii) in New South Wales, the Greater Sydney and Hunter areas are set to experience catastrophic fire conditions for the first time on record,

New South Wales is burning. In my home state, almost one million hectares have been razed by bushfires since the start of this year's unprecedented bushfire season. Lives have been lost. Over 150 homes, as at the last count, have been burnt to the ground. First and foremost, my thoughts and heart are with those families and communities and with our courageous firefighters, volunteers and emergency services. They must have the resources they need to do their jobs—not budget cuts, as the New South Wales Liberal-National government has done over years.

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

   (i) the Wallarah 2 Coal Project is a proposed longwall underground mining operation northwest of central Wyong on the New South Wales Central Coast,

   (ii) the proposed mine would produce 4 to 5 million tonnes per annum of thermal coal each year for 28 years, leading to more than 264 million tonnes of CO2 being released into the atmosphere, and

   (iii) the Wallarah 2 Coal Project poses a serious risk to the Central Coast's drinking water supply; and

Greens spokesperson for the climate crisis, Adam Bandt MP, has responded to the bushfires burning across NSW and QLD, saying Scott Morrison bears some responsibility and must apologise to the communities impacted. 

“We're deeply saddened by the loss of life and our hearts go out to all the families and communities impacted, as well as the firefighters tackling these terrifying scenes,” said Mr Bandt. 

Scott Morrison needs to stop listening to his big donors in the fossil fuel industry and pay attention to the 11,000 scientists who have jointly declared that we are in a climate emergency and must act urgently in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, said Leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale.

“We are now in a climate emergency and that is a fact. The scientists know it and the community knows it, but Scott Morrison and the Liberal Party still have their heads buried firmly in the sand,” said Di Natale.