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LEGISLATING FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE IN AUSTRALIA ZALI STEGGALL OAM MP Zali Steggall OAM is the Independent Federal Member for the seat of Warringah in Sydney’s North. She is also Australia’s most successful alpine skier, winning a bronze medal in slalom at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, and a World Championship gold medal in 1999. From 2008, Zali was a practising Barrister, specialising in commercial law, sports law and family law. In 2019, Zali contested the Federal Parliamentary Seat of Warringah as an Independent Candidate. The seat had been held for nearly 25 years by former Prime Minister The Hon. Tony Abbott. Zali won the seat with a two-candidate preferred vote of 57.24%.
Last summer the world awoke to images of blood red skies in Australia. Fires raged across the Australian bush and toxic smoke blanketed cities for months. In its wake the bushfires left billions of animals wiped out; several thousand homes levelled; over 400 people dead1; 4000 people admitted to hospital from smoke inhalation; and many more displaced. The bushfires spared very little.
Climate change was thrust from the media sidelines into mainstream political discourse. No longer was it an issue for a few or for the future; it affected everyone, now. The warnings had been there but repeatedly ignored. In 2019 Australia experienced its warmest summer on record. This was following on from 2018 and 2017 having been Australia’s third and fourth-hottest years ever. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, climate change has been causing the fire season to grow longer and more intense. The Federal Government and the Prime Minister continue to minimise the risk of climate change and fail to properly address the problem. They deny what is so obvious to others such as climate scientists, farmers, and the United Nations - that the need for clear legislation to tackle climate change is evident. The Climate Change (National Framework for Adaptation and Mitigation) Bill2 2020 proposes a long-term plan for Australia to get to net-zero emissions by 2050, to implement sensible, five-year emission reduction budgets to get there, and to introduce accountability to identify and adapt to future risks like worsening fire seasons. The Bill is modelled on the United Kingdom’s Climate Change Act, passed in 2008, that has been effective.3
