Newcastle City Council warned to rethink green vote

Newcastle City Council faces pressure to rethink its $270m snub of a lifeblood industry.

Joel Fitzgibbon: ‘We need this ­motion rescinded.’ Picture: Kym Smith

Newcastle City Council could back away from its decision to divest from fossil fuels following pressure from federal Labor, the unions and local business.

Liberal councillor Brad Luke is pushing for fellow councillors to reconsider a motion passed this week to switch most of the council’s $270 million investment portfolio away from the big banks, which fund coal projects, and into “environmentally and socially responsible” projects.

The move has drawn fire from both sides of federal politics, the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union, the mining lobby and local business, with local federal Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon calling on the council to rescind the motion.

Mr Luke, who is in a position to move a recision motion — which must happen within the next fortnight to be considered — said yesterday: “The Lord Mayor needs to seriously reconsider what she has done here.

“It clearly has been a mistake by the Labor councillors in doing this and clearly something they need to reconsider.

“If the Lord Mayor (Nuateli Nelmes) doesn’t reconsider this, she probably should be reconsidering her position on the Westpac helicopter board,” he said.

The Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service is sponsored by coal companies and the NSW Minerals Council.

Mr Luke was one of five dissenting councillors in the 6-5 vote that passed the motion put on Tuesday evening by 23-year-old Labor councillor Declan Clausen and championed by anti-fossil fuel movement 350.org.

Liberal councillor Sharon Water­house and Labor’s Tim Crakanthorp, who is also the state Labor member for Newcastle, were absent for the vote.

Mr Crakanthorp last night declined to say whether he would support a recision motion.

Yesterday, Mr Fitzgibbon called for the motion to be rescinded, saying the council had allowed itself to become a pawn in a larger game.

“350.org has a powerful weapon in its armoury. It can go off to every other council now and say we now have the city with the largest coal-export port in the world turning its back on coal.

“The council decision will do the industry no direct harm. (Mr Clausen’s) real objective was to send a very clear message that Newcastle does not support the  industry. We need this ­motion rescinded.”

CFMEU mining and energy northern district president Peter Jordan said: “We absolutely support this call by Joel; it’s time the council started to respect that the region they represent is a coalmining area for now, and all that the industry has contributed.”

During the debate, Mr Clau­sen promoted the websites market­forces.org.au, run by Freedom of the Earth, and 350.org, Mr Luke said.

“The end result ... is that we are handing over the management of $270m to the most extreme green groups in the world.”

Last night, Ms Nelmes said the policy did not say the council would not invest in coal but supported investment in technologies that reduced greenhouse gas emissions.