Athletes turn up the heat on politicians over climate change

In 2007, Fremantle captain and proud Palawa man Alex Pearce came face to face with then-prime minister John Howard.

Howard was on the campaign trail in Tasmania for the election he would later lose to Kevin Rudd, while Pearce was in Grade 6 and on the school council. Pearce plucked up his courage and asked: “Mr Howard, what are you going to do about the environment and combatting global warming?”

Nicola Barr and Emma Kearney.Credit: Justin McManus

Nearly 20 years after Rudd won that election with a strong mandate to tackle climate change, another election looms in which climate is a battleground.

This time the Coalition won’t unveil its 2030 target until after the election, while Labor won’t update its emissions reduction target for beyond 2030 until after the election.

ACT Senator David Pocock, whose Duty of Care bill has stalled in the Senate, said the ball had now been passed to minor parties and independents to push for greater action on climate action.

A new campaign by FrontRunners, the climate-action organisation established by Pocock and his wife Emma, has attracted the support of more than 100 athletes, including Pearce, AFLW stars Emma Kearney and Nicola Barr, Olympic boxer Harry Garside and Australian men’s cricket Test captain Pat Cummins.

David and Emma Pocock set up FrontRunners, an organisation dedicated to bringing athletes together in support of greater climate action.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

FrontRunners is pushing elite and community-level athletes to support the bill, which would commit governments to consider the health and welfare of future generations in making climate-related decisions. The bill is currently stalled in the Senate, having been opposed by the government and opposition.

Pocock told this masthead that, if re-elected at the next election, he would seek to bring his bill forward for a vote in what he hopes will be a more sympathetic Senate.

“We have to play more of a role. The major parties love to talk about how we’re a small country and we can’t do that much. But we’re one of the biggest fossil fuel exporters in the world, and we’re one of the highest per capita emitters. We have an outsized role to play.”

Pearce – whose Dockers recently signed a two-year extension to their multimillion-dollar sponsorship deal with Woodside Energy – is still asking what the federal government intends to do about climate change.

Fremantle captain Alex Pearce.

The impacts of climate change on our humble weekend sports and exercise routines have been well documented – from winter sports being cancelled due to the effects of wet weather on playing pitches, to humidity and heat creating dangerous conditions for running.

“When it comes down to it, I want tomorrow’s kids to have the same opportunity to fall in love with footy that I did,” Pearce said. “To not have games cancelled due to extreme weather, or be unable to train.”

North Melbourne captain Emma Kearney, who won the AFLW’s best and fairest previously while at the Bulldogs, said athletes were no longer willing to “stick to their lane” on issues like climate change.

“I find it quite ironic when people say that athletes need to stick to their lane ... why do the athletes have to stay silent? I think we’ve got a really good platform, where sport is such a big part of Australia’s culture [and] we can spread really positive news stories and advocate for change.”

Captain Emma Kearney celebrates as North Melbourne take the premiership in November.Credit: AFL Photos

Nicola Barr, a former GWS No.1 draft pick and recent signee with St Kilda, said climate change was everyone’s business.

“Sport’s given us a lot – joy, community [and] the chance to chase our dreams. But I think it’s up to us to make sure future generations get to experience that too. The weather’s already starting to mess with the games we love, at every level.”

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