‘That was pathetic and petty’: Climate wars rage in Wollongong Council after gas reduction motion

A Wollongong Greens councillor has been battered from pillar to post after a motion to investigate ways to reduce gas emissions in the LGA. Read about the full-blown argument.

Less than 48 hours after the re-elected federal Whitlam MP Stephen Jones tweeted the climate wars were over, they had restarted on the Wollongong Council chamber floor.

Both sides of the major party divide piled in on Greens councillor Mithra Cox after she tabled a motion calling for staff to investigate ways to reduce greenhouse emissions from gas within council and the broader community.

Labor councillor Richard Martin, seemingly buoyed by the federal election result, attacked the Greens’ result in Cunningham before arguing that local government shouldn’t be involved in people’s lives.

The Greens with candidate Dylan Green picked up an 6.2 per cent swing in their favour, including a record first preference vote, with Labor’s Alison Byrnes claiming the seat despite a 6.3 per cent swing away from Labor (with 82.8 per cent of the vote counted).

Tonight the people of Australia have declared an end to the Climate Wars.

— Stephen Jones MP (@StephenJonesMP) May 21, 2022

“I want to congratulate your team on all their hard work,” Cr Martin said to Cr Cox.

“The Greens got 23 per cent of the vote, but our colleagues over there (pointing at the Liberal councillors) got 24 per cent and they did nothing.

“Council shouldn’t be interfering in people’s lives, one thing I talked about in my campaign was how council is the most intrusive part of our lives (compared to other levels of government) and it shouldn’t be.”

Wollongong Labor councillor Richard Martin was quick to have a dig a Greens councillor Mithra Cox.

Independent Dom Figliomeni lambasted the motion, suggesting if the motion was carried the council would introduce restrictions about “hardwood bed frames needing to be recycled wood bed frames” and enforcing the use of “green sealed toilet paper, or whatever”.

Labor councillor Janice Kershaw called the motion the most “ridiculous” thing she had heard in her life before the Greens’ motion was saved by another Labor councillor in Ann Martin.

“Banning something is challenging, i.e. we can’t do it,” Cr Ann Martin said.

“However, we could encourage residents to move away from gas … I am a bit disappointed as the councillor who put forward our climate mitigation plan [that this motion is receiving a negative response] because it’s not asking for this to be done in the next 10 minutes.”

This didn’t stop the Liberals from lining up to criticise the motion with self-described “climate sceptic” councillor John Dorahy suggesting it wasn’t council’s role to solve the climate crisis.

“I am a climate sceptic as everyone knows,” he said.

“I am a bit of a sceptic as to the time of climate change and the need to make changes like this.”

Cr Dorahy asked Cr Cox “how much methane one cow excretes every year” which she said was “out of order”.

“They belt out 220 pounds of methane each year,” Cr Dorahy continued.

Wollongong councillor John Dorahy affirmed his climate scepticism when debate a motion to reduce gas emissions.

“I am not getting away from the fact your motion is a want for good, I don’t have a problem with that, but I do [have a problem with] the Greens, in essence down to a person called Bandt, Adam Bandt (the federal Greens leader), are petulant children who want everything now, they want it sooner than the technologies evolve and it’s wrong.

“It’s alright for us, we’re going to have to deal with carbon taxes and we will have to pay for that as a council and I ask Greens what are they doing about the Russians, the Chinese and India?”

Mayor Gordon Bradbery said the debate was “beyond the pale” and pushed for the motion to be integrated with the council’s climate mitigation plan.

“I don’t want the community out there to think we’ve come down on Cr Cox’s motion,” the mayor said.

“Gas is an issue and it as a source of greenhouse gases is a concern, but I don’t want on the front page of the(newspaper) or on the (radio) in the morning that council has knocked this down … the council needs to affirm it’s on this trajectory.”

Liberal councillor Cameron Walters sent a barb back across the chamber saying “Labor got one of its worst results in 20 years” before a fired up Cr Cox finished the debate by berating the comments of some of her colleagues.

Councillor Mithra Cox wants Wollongong Council to encourage people to switch from gas to electric.

“I never turned up here [to debate] federal politics, that was pathetic and petty and I never want to hear a debate like that again,” she said.

“I was not asking for us to upgrade every kitchen tomorrow. I was asking for them to be upgraded when they were at the end of life and due [to be upgraded] some of you didn’t read the motion or listen to what I said.

“Gas is a fossil fuel. Fossil fuels cause climate change. The criticism with this motion was we were already going to and that it was too radical – that’s the most ridiculous juxtaposition I’ve ever heard.

“I am sorry I am more passionate than I usually am here and that’s because I care. Why can’t someone else care?

“Why does everyone need to be dragged kicking and screaming and for everything to be fought for?”

“I can’t imagine how relaxing it must be to not care about climate change.”