The simple truth for reversing climate change is right in front of us

[Music]

[Applause]

so

about 15 years ago i had the first job

directly related to climate change in my

life and

i was really excited i was working for a

department in the northern territory

it was responsible for climate change

environment the arts natural resources

all of the good things right and i was

really excited at the opportunities

there

but all i was seeing was blocks and

i wanted to be part of the solution but

i was actually feeling really powerless

and if i’m honest with you part of a

bigger problem

i was sharing these feelings with a

really good friend i’d made up in the

territory

and was wondering well if i can’t make a

difference here where should i go next

where is that place that i could be more

effective

and she said to me well she actually

gave me the best advice of my life which

i wanted to share with you today she

said

there is no one place that we have to be

everywhere

we have to be everywhere to make things

line up

and i feel like it’s really important

timing to be reminded of this or to

share this with you because

acting alone we will not win

we need to find each other like never

before to make those things line up

and that’s why 15 years later i’m so

proud today to be talking about the

clean state jobs plan

26 big ideas for 200 000 jobs

it’s a blueprint for decarbonisation in

western australia

and it’s proudly parochial and it’s hard

not to talk about it without getting

really excited but it’s also hard to

talk about it in a presentation without

giving you 400 slides and a massive

shopping list because

it is a blueprint for decarbonisation so

what i’m going to do today instead is a

ted exclusive it’s a 60 second

snapshot a 60 second showcase

so are you ready

okay start the clock 90 contributors

over 10 economic sectors creating

200 000 jobs reducing emissions by

two-thirds by 2030 and creating at least

three billion dollars of benefits

every year plus another three billion if

we had a green steel industry

it covers everything from local repair

labs in our communities right through to

entire transition plans for colleen for

southwest forestry

it would see renewables 90 renewables on

our grid by 2030

and all of our schools would be covered

with solar panels and powered by

batteries

which fun fact would create 435 million

dollars in savings over the lifetime of

those panels

it would decarbonize the gas industry

strongly invest in first nations culture

science and tourism and it would solve

homelessness in

three years by building fifteen thousand

low carbon homes for every family

languishing

on the waiting list what is not to love

the audacity of this plan the ambition

of this plan

is on the back of 15 years of fails

i remember the job i told you about in

the department well on my first day they

sat me down at a desk that had letters a

stack of letters this high

many of them had written from first

nations people pleading with the

government not to go ahead with the

macarthur river mine

while i was there the impex gas hub was

approved without even being assessed

in fact the election was brought early

six months so that it could guarantee

political stability

uh that’s one of the biggest polluters

in the world seven million

tons a year exporting gas worth 300

billion dollars

over its lifetime which we will not see

one cent of royalties and that is

happening here in western australia

today with our own gas industry

that is the subject for another talk it

happened

in communities i was part of as a

teenager when i was going down to

participate in forest actions because i

couldn’t believe we were cutting down

400 600 year old trees to be wood

chipped

and turned into toilet paper

that still happens today i felt it when

i was

all of those years working as a policy

wonk and advisor

creating countless costed initiatives

solutions it seemed like nobody was

listening to

because evidence doesn’t matter anymore

we are in a post-evidence reality

and then there were winds there were

massive winds only to have them unpicked

and i’m thinking of

the world-class carbon package that i

was really proud to be part of a party

that negotiated

to deliver and i’m talking about the

carbon price

the 872 million dollar fund for

biodiversity

the clean energy finance corporation got

introduced as part of the package and in

the first year that was introduced

emissions cut by seven percent and it

was actually

estimated to make us 24 billion over

three years

24 billion dollars in revenue only to be

erased by

the next government now

i’m sharing these stories of failure

with you because

i’m tired i’m really tired

i’m tired of jobs being used as an

excuse to justify projects that are

incompatible with our survival and i’m

tired

of simple elegant solutions being right

within our grasp right here in western

australia and being overlooked

and i’m tired of grief and sadness and

rage being

a baseline of emotions right now

and so that’s why it’s important when i

feel this way i know

i’m not the only one right and i’m

reminded of the advice that my friend

gave me

that there is no one place but that we

have to be everywhere and i’m reminding

you of this for three reasons today

the first is for hope

when i was given that advice it felt

like hope for the first time and

while we don’t have that luxury anymore

we know that time is ticking maybe

you’re in a job or you’re in a volunteer

position where you’re wondering where

could i have more power

well you are in the right place

the second reason is because finally i

feel like we’re starting to see really

big things line up

i’m thinking of joe biden’s two trillion

climate package

i’m thinking of the climate investor 100

plus that a global

group of investors now 400 strong

controlling 47 trillion

of global investment and they’re telling

the world’s biggest polluters

time is up i’m thinking of our jobs plan

because i feel like our jobs plan is the

embodiment of

finding where everyone is and lining

things up to make something greater than

the sum of its parts and we are

getting through doors we never have got

through before we’re having meetings

with ministers in the opposition

and we have businesses on board 200

businesses have signed up

we’re having amazing break breakthroughs

in the community

with our road shows and just with the

optimism that people can feel and they

can see themselves in this plan and it’s

so nice to talk about something positive

but the third reason i’m sharing this

with you

this advice with you today is because of

right here in this room

what could be possible if 250

of wa’s climate leaders were in the same

place magically

what could we line up what could be

possible if

someone magically stepped on the

accelerator to make us find each other

a decarbonized economy where we are all

part of the solution

and when no one is left behind

but we’ve been told that the community

aren’t ready

but polling we’ve done for two years in

a row has found that 80 percent

of people in the community want action

on climate change

we’ve been made to feel like we are the

radicals that

we are in the minority but our polling

also found that only four percent of

people that were surveyed were

true deniers we’ve been told that action

on climate change is expensive or

cost jobs it’ll wreck the economy but we

know the opposite is true

our plan creates 200 000 jobs and

we know all of us here would know that

action on climate change is the best

thing you can do for the economy and

society

so that’s why i’m urging you not to play

small

i’m urging you to find each other

i’m urging you to have tough

conversations

at work or where you volunteer

especially if that’s in oil and gas

and i remember because

the advice was that we have to be

everywhere

and it turns out that we are

so let’s act like it thank you