Sunday Mail survey shows South Australians rate climate change action top priority

South Australians rate action on man-made climate change action as the nation’s highest priority after tackling coronavirus.

Action on climate change is rated by South Australians as the nation’s highest immediate priority other than a COVID vaccine, a new survey reveals.

Preliminary data from the Sunday Mail’s annual Your Say survey found fighting the climate crisis was more pressing than investing in infrastructure, security, unity and more direct government support for business.

The Your Say survey, which for the first time is national, reveals that almost 90 per cent of about 1000 SA respondents say climate change is already having a destructive impact – 58 per cent believe it’s largely caused by human activity and 31.2 per cent do not believe that is the major cause.

SA’s stance on climate change is considerably stron­ger than the rest of the country, with 39.1 per cent be­lieving it is happening now.

Responding to the survey results, Environment Minister David Speirs branded SA a national leader in dealing with the changing climate and emphasised plans to sup­ercharge renewable energy.

Environment Minister David Speirs said SA was leading the country in dealing with climate change. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas vowed that a future Labor government would “realise the full economic opportunity of leading the tran­sition to a low-carbon economy”.

The Your Say survey, which can be completed at advertiser.com.au/yoursay, asks separate questions about people’s views on climate change and what they believe is the most important thing Australia needs right now, besides a virus vaccine.

The preliminary results from the 50-question survey were taken from 3185 respondents nationally, of whom 959 were from SA.

Among SA respondents, 19.9 per cent believed climate- change action was the highest priority, followed by more infrastructure investment (14.6 per cent), less immigration (12.3 per cent), security (10.3 per cent), unity (9.7 per cent) and more direct government support for business (6.4 per cent).

Nationally, reduced immigration and less government intervention were considered the equal-highest priorities (15.3 per cent), followed by climate-change action (12.4 per cent) and infrastructure investment (10.4 per cent).

Mr Speirs claimed SA was leading the nation because of a historic Climate Change Action Plan unveiled in December that includes rapidly developing renewable en­ergy to more than 500 per cent of the state’s current demand by 2050.

This would make the state a major energy exporter.

“This is the most powerful vision for climate action of any SA government in history and provides an ambitious practical approach to help build a strong, climate-smart economy and further reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Mr Speirs said.

“Demand for low emissions and climate-smart products is growing, and SA is well equipped to use our abundance of sun, wind and other natural resources to take full advantage of this growing demand, which is not only good for the environment but will also create long-term local jobs.”

The four-year action plan also reaffirms an interim goal of a 50 per cent reduction in 2005 emission levels by 2030, in order to reach net zero emissions by 2050 – a goal set by Labor in 2015.

It was subsequently reaffirmed by the Liberal government elected in 2018.

Mr Malinauskas said governments had a fundamental responsibility to act now, declaring he believed climate change was both real and human-induced.

The Hornsdale Power Reserve “big battery” at Jamestown. Picture: Neoen

“I don’t want our kids to inherit an environment that is in a worse condition,” he said.

“We cannot ignore the science and kick the can down the road. I am proud South Australians are ahead of the rest of the country on climate change but we need a government which will show bold leadership to capitalise on our advantages.”

Federal Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor said Australia had a clear plan to meet – and beat – 2030 emissions targets, arguing updated projections reflected a strong performance.

“Australia is playing its part in the global response to climate change by meeting and beating our international targets,” he said.

“When we make commitments, we meet them.”

Federal Opposition climate change and energy spokesman Mark Butler, the member for Hindmarsh, said it was not surprising climate change was rated the important issue.

He said this was the result of the previous state Labor government which turned SA into a world leader in renewable energy investment – and had translated into lower electricity bills.

“What South Australians want is a Federal Government that will take climate change seriously but all they are getting from Canberra is Scott Morrison who won’t even commit to net zero emissions by 2050,” Mr Butler said.