Cassy O’Connor MP | Greens Leader
In State Parliament today, both Labor and the Liberals voted against the Greens’ motion to declare a climate emergency, sending a terrible message to young Tasmanians that they don’t take their fears over the future seriously.
After the debate in which both parties tried to amend the Greens’ climate emergency declaration to remove all substance and meaning, and the subsequent vote, a number of young people watching inside the building burst into tears.
The Tasmanian Parliament had the opportunity today to join the Parliaments of the UK, Ireland, the ACT and 528 councils worldwide in declaring a climate emergency. All we were asking was the MPs on all sides acknowledged the science and the truth.
We are in a state of climate emergency. Every young Tasmanian watching today knows that they were let down by the Liberals and Labor, including Speaker, Sue Hickey, who voted for the Liberals’ amendments.
The global climate emergency threatens lives, both now and into the future. Action equals hope. It should be above politics.
In times of emergency, politics must be put aside and all parties should work together. That is why we crafted our climate emergency declaration to remove all partisan politics.
The Liberals, led by a coal-loving Prime Minister, continued to keep their heads planted firmly in the sand, while the Labor Party played petty politics.
Children and young people are deeply distressed by the Federal Election outcome. They feel their country doesn’t care about their future. Their distress only deepened after witnessing the debate and vote in State Parliament today.
While both Labor and the Liberals play politics the planet is heating at an alarming rate and the climate emergency becomes more real.
Both Labor and the Liberals should hang their heads in shame. They have betrayed the next generation.