On the 23rd of March, a Climate Change Bill will be presented to Parliament and we need everyone’s help to get it passed.
The Bill has been proposed by Independent MP Zali Stegall, (the member for the electorate of Warringah in Sydney) focuses on climate risks, with adaptation and mitigation measures for Australia, including establishing an independent climate change commission to advise parliament.
If the Bill is passed it will be groundbreaking and help Australia become a leader in the fight against Climate Change.
What’s important about this Bill is that it’s non-partisan, meaning it does not represent any one political party. It offers a sensible climate target that all the major parties can (hopefully) agree on, implementing strong climate policies to reduce Australia’s emissions to zero by 2050.
The Climate Change Bill 2020 looks to legislate for:
- setting statutory targets of net zero emissions by 2050;
- five-yearly, economy-wide carbon budgets to meet the 2050 goal;
- establishment of an independent and non-partisan expert body, the Climate Change Commission, to advise on climate policy and assess government proposals, including the transition to a decarbonised economy and long-term adaptation measures;
- Climate Change Risk Assessment for all sectors, including health, agriculture, energy, and transport.
1 Million Women have written an excellent breakdown of the Bill and you can read the full Bill here.
What we need to do to help get this Bill through Parliament:
The Bill has the best chance to get through Parliament with a Conscience Vote – a vote that allows Members of Parliament to vote according to their conscience and not with their party. We can urge our local Members of Parliament to call for a conscience vote in their party by following the below steps.
Sign this petition to show you support this Bill.
The petition also has a pre-written email you can send to your local MP if you don’t have time to personalise one, but if you’d like to edit it and personalise it, you can do that too (in fact we encourage it!).
The more people who do this in each electorate, the more pressure we’ll create, and this website is keeping tabs on the numbers, so we know exactly how each of these politicians should be voting on the 23rd.
Tell you local MP
This is the most important thing you can do and we need everyone to get on board, no matter what electorate you’re in or who your local MP is.
The Bill needs support across parties, so whether you MP is Labor, Liberal, Greens, Nationals or Independent, get in touch with them and tell them why this is such an important moment for Australia. Here‘s a good guide on how to write a letter to your MP.
Tell your friends, family, everyone!
Post to Facebook, have conversations, tell your neighbours, share on Twitter. For the next three weeks until March 23rd, talk about this Bill with everyone you know!! You can download resources here to help you spread the word.
If you happen to be in Canberra
Rock up to parliament on March 23rd to show your support for the Bill. We want to show the Government that the people of Australia want this Bill. Let’s make it so big that no one in Parliament can ignore us!
Sources: Climate Act Now, 1 Million Women, and Sustainability Matters
