Zali Steggall stands by controversial offshore wind, seeks to broaden climate debate

Renewable energy advocates must stare down an increasingly toxic debate about offshore wind developments, independent MP Zali Steggall says, as she outlined plans for a billion dollar fund to harden communities against the effects of warming already baked into the climate.

Steggall, the first of the teal independents to be elected to parliament, said she stood by her support for the rollout of renewable energy infrastructure across the country, including offshore wind, the benefits of which some other regional teal candidates have questioned.

Warringah MP Zali Steggall wants a new fund to harden communities against the climate threat. Credit: Steven Siewert

“Offshore wind, in particular, takes political courage, but the reality is we are going to need it to transition our energy sector,” said Steggall, whose seat in the northern beaches of Sydney does not face the prospect of offshore wind farms.

“You have all the trolls who say, ‘Well, why can’t you have wind turbines off Manly?’ Well, I don’t have an industrial zone in Warringah that requires the energy that would be generated from an offshore wind.

“What I can address is the misinformation,” she said, arguing offshore wind zones would be too far offshore to create “visual pollution”.

She said the one-two punch of fires in LA and Cyclone Alfred would reshape the upcoming election, reminding urban voters that they are not insulated against the most dangerous impacts of climate change, and that the costs of baked-in climate change are already here.

Steggall wants a fund of $10 billion created by scrapping the fuel tax credit for all industries except agriculture as the cost of her support in the event of a hung parliament in the next election.

This would hit the mining sector hardest, which is expected to claim $4.8 billion in rebates this financial year for fuel for its vehicles when not on public roads.

Local governments would be able to apply to the fund to harden their community infrastructure to make it resilient enough to withstand extreme weather and climate disasters, citing improved storm water drainage, pumps to deal with floods or surges or to heighten levies as examples.

Steggall wants a further $40 million to expand the work of the Resilient Building Council in measuring the capability of homes and buildings, laws to create an independent body to regularly assess climate risk, and have the national construction code adopt resilience standards and promote low cost, climate-resilient and energy-efficient housing.

The famous beaches of Surfers Paradise washed away with Cyclone Alfred’s onslaught. Credit: Justin McManus

Matt Kean, the former Liberal Party treasurer of NSW who is now Climate Change Authority chair, said the suggestion was a welcome sign that Australian politicians were beginning to understand that the climate debate in Australia needed to expand from cutting emissions to adapting to a new reality because changing conditions were locked in even if emissions reduction targets are met.

“This is a sign of a broadening of focus. We can’t give up on mitigation, but we have to discuss adaptation,” Kean said.

He said Cyclone Alfred and Cyclone Seroja, which hit Western Australia in 2021, were evidence that the world had changed and there was a need to update national construction codes.

“Cyclone building codes, for example, don’t even extend as far south as Bundaberg on the Queensland coast, or more than 300 kilometres north of Brisbane,” he said.

“During my time as treasurer in New South Wales I had to see the state’s most costly disaster, the 2022 floods in the Northern Rivers with a damage bill counted in the billions of dollars, and that’s before including the personal trauma, which accountants won’t tally.

“There’s a powerful social and economic case for building up resilience because we are undoubtedly going to draw on it in the future.”

Alix Pearce, climate lead at the Insurance Council of Australia, said the group had seen Steggall’s proposed policy and welcomed any effort to drive down insurance costs by preparing households and communities for the climate threat.

“Extreme weather, coupled with rising reinsurance costs, inflationary pressures and expansion of our population into high-risk areas, is putting upward pressure on insurance premiums,” Pearce said.

“The ICA has long been advocating for changes to the national construction code to include resilience as an objective of the code, to ensure that Australian homes are built to last a lifetime.”

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