Calls for shire to declare climate emergency

PUBLIC SUPPORT for governments taking more dramatic action in response to climate change is growing, with the Surf Coast Shire being urged to declare a “climate emergency”.

More than half of the questions from the gallery at the start of last week’s council meeting were about the topic, with a petition with more than 1,000 signatures to reportedly be submitted soon.

All four questioners were young people. Alex Marshall noted more than 600 governments had declared climate emergency, including the City of Sydney only the night before, and she spoke on behalf of the more than 1,000 individuals who had signed the petition.

“I not only speak for those 1,000 active individuals but also for the many other members of the Surf Coast community and of the world who also demand strong climate action.”

Jarrah Bassal suggested the shire could declare climate emergency at the meeting by making it an item of urgent business, but this was quickly shut down by shire mayor Rose Hodge.

“I’ll stop you there; it can’t happen,” she said. “It is urgent business but not in the definition of our Local Laws. I’m being very lenient but don’t go down that path of ‘it should be on the agenda tonight’.”

The petition was to be submitted to the shire for inclusion in the agenda for the June 25 meeting, but it did not meet the requirements as some of the details of some of the signatories was missing.

A report about the petition will be presented to councillors at their August meeting.