2021-06-29
My first weeks in Parliament: Putting Climate on the Agenda, WA’s growing housing crisis, McGowan Government’s woeful approval of Scarborough gas project, stopping the revolving door of corporate influence in WA, saving the Beeliar Wetlands
By Hon Brad Pettitt, MLC, Member for South Metropolitan
It’s hard to believe that it’s been three and a half months since the state election! I would like to again thank all of the volunteers who worked tirelessly during the campaign to elect more Green voices to Parliament. I know for certain that I would not have the opportunity to represent our community and planet in WA Parliament if it weren’t for the tremendous effort of hundreds of volunteers in our movement.
My team and I have settled into our temporary setup at Robin Chapple’s roomy old office in West Perth and will hopefully be moved into our permanent electorate office in Fremantle by Christmas.
I’ve just wrapped up my first four weeks in the WA Upper House and State Parliament is now in winter recess for July. It has been a steep learning curve getting across how Parliament works but I am getting there!
This 41st Parliament is an unprecedented one ‒ never before have we had a single-party government in WA with a majority in BOTH the Upper and Lower houses. This is somewhat challenging for the Greens as it limits our opportunities to put forward bills, motions and other Parliamentary legislation.
However this 41st Parliament is also a unique opportunity for the State Government to easily pass legislation to tackle climate change, address WA’s growing housing and homelessness crisis, permanently end native logging, make renewable energy widely available, get more electric vehicles on the road and so much more!
There were quite a few interesting (and, at times, downright outrageous!) things that came up during my first weeks in Parliament.
Despite overwhelming opposition from the community and climate experts alike, the McGowan Labor Government gave further approval for Woodside and BHP’s climate-wrecking Scarborough gas project off the Burrup Peninsula. I spoke out against the Scarborough approval in Parliament and submitted an appeal of the approval to the WA Minister for Environment.
The Scarborough approval came in the same week that the McGowan Government’s former Treasurer took a position on Woodside’s board. This revolving door of influence between government and big mining in WA makes it difficult for communities to feel confident that decisions are being made in our best interest. To increase transparency in government decisions, WA must enforce a mandatory 2-year cooling off period between when Ministers leave office and when they take on advisory positions in industries they were responsible for regulating.
I have also been focused on drawing attention to WA’s housing and homelessness crisis. Questions asked in Parliament revealed that our state’s already enormous public housing waitlist has skyrocketed to nearly 29,000 people, an increase of almost 4,000 just in the last 9 months.
It’s simply unacceptable that in a state as wealthy as WA with a nearly $5 billion surplus we have families, children, disabled people, elderly folks, and other vulnerable Western Australians without a safe place to sleep.
In some positive news, I’m excited to report that the Beeliar Wetlands bill passed the Lower House and should be coming into the Upper House sometime in the next few sitting weeks. This bill will change the classification of the Beeliar Wetlands to a Class A conservation reserve, what they should have been classified as this whole time!
This is a huge win for our community and a testament to the power of grassroots movements. It is only because of the tireless work of thousands of community members that the Beeliar Wetlands will finally be protected. I will be sure to provide an update once the Beeliar Wetlands bill is debated in the Upper House.
Overall it has been an extremely busy last several weeks with lots of new experiences in Parliament. My team and I still have lots to learn in the coming months but I am so excited to be representing our Green movement in WA Parliament over the next four years.
Header photo: At a Snap Action on Friday 28th May organized by 350.org and Clean State outside Dumas House to convince Environment Minister Sanderson to say no to the expansion of Woodside's Scarborough gas project.