Yesterday, many Australians heard from our Minister for the Environment for the first time.
As an environmental emergency engulfs our nation, I would have thought we would be hearing – from the treetops – the person whose taxpayer-funded job charges them to protect and promote our biosphere, flora and fauna.
Since September, this bushfire season has claimed at least 27 lives, including four firefighters, destroyed more than 2,000 homes, and seen a billion animals perish in New South Wales alone. We are suffering as never before.
Last week, South Australian Senator Sarah Hanson-Young asked the simple question to her Twitter followers: “Where is the Environment Minister???”
The next day, Hanson-Young reflected: “I sent this tweet last night. Most of the replies were people asking ‘who is the Environment Minister?’…
For those wondering, our Federal Minister for Environment is a woman called Sussan Ley.
On Monday, more than four months into Australia’s disastrous bushfire season, Ley’s name emerged in the news cycle. Ley announced $50 million for an Emergency Wildlife and Habitat Recovery Package to support immediate work to protect wildlife in the wake of the wildfires. In the announcement, Ley admitted that Australia’s koala population has taken an “extraordinary hit” and may be “endangered”.
This is no doubt an investment we need. But why did it take more than 16 weeks for Australia to hear from our environment minister?
What is the point of having an environment minister, if they are not at the forefront of an environmental crisis?
We have a clear spokesperson when it comes to the economy in Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. But how many Australians feel the environment – and thus climate change – has a powerful voice representing it?
As communities have turned black and skies have turned red, Australian’s have been left infuriated by the leadership of Scott Morrison, with tens of thousands of people protesting his inaction on climate change last Friday.
Indeed, Scott Morrison has copped the brunt of the blast. Justifiably. But let’s not forget that we elected a government. Morrison is not the only politician we must hold to account.
When contacted by Mamamia, a spokesperson for Ley said: “The Minister has been leading the national response by working with experts and planning this response.
“Minister Ley has worked with threatened species experts since the first fires late last year.
"She ensured $3 million in funding for Queensland koala hospitals, which was announced before Christmas, ensured mapping of impacts was underway in northern NSW with the fires still burning.
“Minister Ley over Christmas was working to ensure federal officials were being coordinated in preparing responses as the fires have escalated.
“Minister Ley has also worked closely with fire crews and communities in her electorate throughout the period.”
Mamamia also asked Minister Ley for a comment on the scientific correlation between climate change and this current bushfire season. This question was met with silence.
It is, of course, not every politician's job to front the media. But there are some questions that the Australian people are demanding answers to.
As the Federal Minister for Environment, what is Ley's long-term approach to climate change?
Why were multiple reports, forecasting this kind of catastrophe, ignored?
How are we investing in communities to ensure they can survive natural disasters of this magnitude when they inevitably happen again?
Ultimately - what is the plan?
If we look at countries abroad, there are environment ministers who are working on incredible initiatives for the sustainable future of the planet.
In Sweden, in December 2019, Climate Minister Isabella Lövin announced a ground-breaking climate action plan that outlined exactly how their climate goals will be integrated into all relevant policy areas.
Ethiopia planted 350 million trees in a single day in 2019, after losing nearly 2 million animals due to drought in 2017. This was done under the leadership of Dr. Gemedo Dalle, their Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change. They plan to plant four billion trees overall - 40 trees per person.
In Italy, in 2019, the Environment Minister and Education Minister worked together to become the first country to make studying climate change and sustainability compulsory in all schools.
What does this tell us? That Environment Ministers have the power to make long-term policies and develop a long-term approach.
Instead, what we do know is that Minister Ley welcomed the Queensland government's decision to green light the Adani coalmine, which a Greenpeace report found would exceed the yearly carbon dioxide emissions of entire countries.
If our environment minister won't even advocate on behalf of our environment, then who will?
In Australia, we are a signatory to the Paris Agreement - a global deal that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change. Australia agreed to reduce our emissions by 26 to 28 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030. We are not on track. We are not even close.
Last month during the COP 25 summit, a major climate summit in Madrid, Australia was named and shamed for resisting stronger action on climate change. Our Environment Minister Sussan Ley didn't attend these talks.
Put simply, Australia right now is a country in crisis, crumbling under the threat of climate change.
And I still don't know what our Environment Minister is doing about it.
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Top Comments
Some people will only 'get' climate change when a city burns down and the firefighters are powerless to stop it. It's too late for the world to stop catastrophic climate change. It's here and Australia can't fix it even if we had the political will to do so (which we don't). We need to start preparing. Given the devestation of these fires, I hope the Government starts to look at re-hydrating the country. We can't afford for coal mines to drain our water table dry. We can't afford to allow so much water to run off into the sea. We need to start thinking of ways to redirect the water into the forests. Trees are the lungs and kidneys of Australia. We need to nurture them back to health.
Well, Climate Commissioner Tim Flannery told us Perth would be the first ghost city by 2015 due to lack of water. Since that didn’t work, maybe yeah say by 2025 Adelaide will burn down.
It’s hard, Bob Brown told us Kakadu would be flooded by now, Rudd told us we’d now have millions of climate refugees, Julia warned us about rising sea levels before leaving politics to but a nice shorefront mansion. For some reason there are people out there who just aren’t believing all the doom predictions.
What an absolute and embarrassing disgrace our government is!
Ley is clearly tokenistic, not just in her role pretending to care about the environment while approving coal mines but a likely unheard minister in a party of (backward) men.
How can any Australian with any semblance of intelligence consider this government a fit group of politicians to lead us in the 21st century? They just have to go, first chance we get.
And Labor, if you’re up next, you bloody well better earn it!
If anything, this tragedy has laid bare exactly what the LNP stands for (themselves and their billionaire mates). They don't actually care about the role of government.
People who don't follow politics weren't really paying attention before... but "you can't fool all of the people all of the time."
I was quietly amazed that Sussan Ley regained a cabinet position after the travel expenses scandal that lost her the Health portfolio. Ley spent 65K in a year travelling to and from Albury to the Gold Coast in order, at least in part, to view and purchase Gold Coast properties. She also claimed travel expenses to attend a private wedding as the guest of a wealthy Gold Coast businesswoman.
Ley has a Masters in Accounting, so as Minister for the Environment, she's a walking, talking rubber stamp.
It always amazes me how forgiving people are to politicians. It truly does seem a job for life. Politicians can truly do no wrong. They will keep their jobs in some form no matter what incompetent or sexist etc thing they do. They just get reshuffled (or promoted! Worked for Scott Morrison and Tony Abbott, others as well!). In the ordinary workforce, a regular job, people would lose their jobs making mistakes or being incompetent like many politians (And CEOs earning million too, actually, now I think about it!). Wish it would change, but since the people benefiting from this system are in charge, it's not going to change.
Yep, it would be considered embezzlement in private industry.