Nature Negative, Global Summit an embarrassment

SUE HIGGINSON

The NSW and Australian Labor Governments have kicked off the frst Global Nature Positive Summit in Sydney this morning despite the recent approval of 3 massive coal mine expansions and the ongoing logging of the public native forest estate, including the promised Great Koala National Park in NSW. Community members gathered at the International Convention Centre in Sydney to protest the Summit under guard by heavily armed police.

“The greatest threat to nature, the environment, and humans, is the rapidly changing climate and we are turbo charging this crisis by mining, exporting and burning coal from NSW. Just two weeks ago, the Federal Labor Government signed off on 3 coal mining projects in NSW in one day, extending the mining of coal for another 30 years. This summit today is a sick and twisted charade from a Labor Party that has been captured by the fossil fuel industry,”

“It is galling that as this summit is underway extinction logging across our precious public forest estate continues, including in the Great Koala National Park.

Communities from Taree to Tweed are in the forests right now, putting their lives on hold and their bodies on the line to stop the industrial scale logging that is driving the extinction of our most threatened species while Tanya Plibersek pats herself on the back in Sydney. Labor’s cognitive dissonance on nature right now is intellectually dishonest.”

“Labor is trying to hide their failures by blaming weak environmental laws. As a planning and environmental lawyer, I know that the laws we have need fxing - but they could be used to stop coal and gas projects and logging, Labor is just refusing to do it,”

“The heavily armed police at the community rally today was unnecessary and an act of intimidation against peaceful people. If the Police are wondering who the real threats to security are, they’ll fnd them working in the boardrooms of fossil fuel giants,”

Greens MP and spokesperson for nature Sue Higginson said “Today’s summit in Sydney is a scam against NSW, Australia and the global community. The Labor Governments in NSW and Canberra are trashing the climate and nature, while trying to sell this nature positive lie to the world,”

“We have had enough. In Parliament, Members from across the political divide are ready to stop the Minns Labor Government in its tracks. If the Government won’t listen to their own Labor backbenchers, as well as the science, then we will take a stand to make them,” Ms Higginson said.