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Councillor’s plea for climate change action
Audit period: Oct 2018 - Mar 2019
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Stephen Taylor steve@mpnews.com.au THE devastating impact of raging bushfires, especially in NSW and Queensland, has generated discussion about the effects of climate change and the dangers Australia faces in a warming environment. Politicians, depending on their political hue, either want to dampen debate on global warming in the emergency, saying it’s “not the right time to talk about climate change”, while others are keen to use the topic as a means of pressing their point on the “new reality”. Mornington Peninsula Shire’s Cr Simon Brooks said it’s “never a wrong time to speak about climate change”. “With the year-on-year trend of native forests drying across much of Australia and the declaration of fire seasons being expanded almost on a yearly basis, there is now a stark indicator of the effects of climate change that can actually be seen by people,” he said. “The discussion around the link and how we mitigate and adapt must be had otherwise no solutions will be forthcoming. It is the inflammatory side of the discussion that should not occur. It should not be a debate – [discussion] should be focused on building awareness and finding solutions.” Cr Brooks said “those in power”
SERIOUS TIMES CALL FOR FUN TIMES!
had a responsibility “to take all reasonable steps to act on that risk”. “At a local council level, we are doing exactly that. However, I’m growing increasingly frustrated by the lack of awareness shown by some of our politicians at both state and federal level. The insistence of not treating this risk seriously is reckless.” He said laws in other jurisdictions, such as laws covering workplace safety, made it mandatory to act on identified risk or risk criminal penalties because people’s health and safety are at stake. “What’s different with a failure to act on climate change?” Cr Brooks said. “Perhaps [it’s] because it’s only the health and safety of the entire living planet that’s at stake.”
Grants for waste MT MARTHA Lifesaving Club and Kunyung Primary School have received grants from South East Water. The lifesavers received $2100 for beach clean-ups and managing waste containers, while the school was given $2200 for its drainage pollution education program. The utility has provided more than $30,000 in funding to support community group projects, with 11 supporting environmental and recreation projects benefiting the health of Port Phillip and Western Port bays.
A LARGE crowd gathered at Mornington police station last week to honour the memory of slain police woman Constable Angela Taylor and unveil a plaque bearing her name. The 21-year-old, who was killed during the Russell Street bombing in 1986, also has a rose named after her which was planted beside the station’s flagpole by retired police veteran Sergeant Neil Fortune in 2002.
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Mornington News
19 November 2019
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