WA Greens issue climate demand as balance of power beckons

Changes to the upper house introduced by the Cook government are poised to deliver the WA Greens the balance of power.

WA Premier Roger Cook says ‘the Greens should actually wake up’. Picture: NewsWire / Sharon Smith

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The West Australian Greens say they have the tacit support of multiple Labor MPs and party members as they attempt to force the Cook government to consider more aggressive environmental and climate policies.

The minor party currently has only one member in WA’s upper house, the Legislate Council, but is certain it will secure at least four seats in the chamber at next month’s election under a new system introduced by Labor after its landslide victory in the 2021 poll.

Such a result would likely hand the Greens the balance of power, meaning Labor would rely on the support of either the Greens or the Liberals to pass legislation.

The Cook government has come under fire from environmental groups over what they say is a lack of meaningful action on climate. Premier Roger Cook was a staunch opponent of the Albanese government’s ultimately abandoned nature positive environmental reforms, while the ­environmental lobby says the government’s changes to the Environmental Protection Authority have weakened the regulator.

Climate policy has not been raised by either Labor or the Liberals during the campaign, with the major parties instead focusing heavily on health and the cost of living. Launching their climate policy in Perth on Friday, Greens MP Brad Pettit and lead candidate Sophie McNeill said the government’s environmental record was a source of frustration for many Labor MPs and members.

Mr Pettit said he hoped Labor’s need for Greens support would lead to more “progressive” outcomes in the next parliament.

“We will go to the Labor Party with an intent to collaborate, to work together with them and ­actually get good outcomes. Actually often outcomes that Labor’s own platform and own members want to see, but we’ve frankly seen them not do the last term because they’ve been too afraid, too timid and too conservative,” he said.

He said the Cook government had failed to make the most of the opportunity it had during the last term, given its record revenues and unprecedented hold on both houses of parliament.

“They could have done so much with the surpluses and with the super majority,” he said. “I actually hope that when the Greens are in the balance of power, that will actually give them the cover and the courage they need to actually implement the really important things that we want.”

Ms O’Neill noted that two ­retiring Labor MPs had recently announced plans to start a decarbonisation consultancy.

“You don’t have to listen to the Greens. Look at what members of the government’s own party are doing,” she said. “Labor members are leaving parliament because they know they can have more impact on the environment, on ­reducing emissions, outside of their own party in parliament. That just speaks volumes about how hopeless WA Labor is when it comes to climate action.”

The Greens have called for a levy that would cost the state’s liquefied natural gas exporters billions of dollars a year, as well as firm commitments on emissions reductions.

Mr Cook said the Greens’ levy idea would not work, given the offshore gas resources were in commonwealth rather than state waters. He said the policy ideas failed to consider the importance of WA export gas in reducing the reliance on coal of other countries in the region.

“Carbon emissions impact the world and the policies that we’re putting in place to become a renewable energy powerhouse as part of our energy transition program, we’ll not only see jobs in WA, we’ll not only see the energy decarbonisation of the Western Australian economy, but ultimately we’ll see countries like Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam get out of coal as well,” he said.

“That is the mission that we have before us as global citizens today. The Greens should actually wake up one morning and actually see that they’re part of a globe. They’re not part of simply a small part of the globe.

“No other state government has done so much in relation to reducing our carbon emissions.”