Australia's councils have voted to ask the Federal Government to seek $1.3 billion annually from coal, oil and gas companies to pay for climate adaptation and disaster management.
🤷 What happened: Last week, more than 1,100 local government leaders from the nation’s councils met in Canberra for the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) national conference to debate issues affecting communities nationwide.
One of the key topics was the rising financial burden of climate change. Councils said the costs were rising faster than their budgets could cover.
The councils argued fossil fuel companies, rather than ratepayers, should contribute to clean up and repair costs, due to their emissions.
💰 The growing costs: Natural disasters cost Australia an estimated $38 billion annually, about $3,800 per household, and are projected to rise to $73 billion by 2060, according to Deloitte Access Economics.
ALGA said local governments bear a disproportionate share of those costs because councils maintain a third of the nation’s infrastructure, including 75 percent of roads, forcing more spending on repairs and recovery.
📝The motion: ALGA, representing 537 councils, voted to ask the Federal Government to establish a $1.3 billion Climate Compensation Fund, consisting of $400 million per year for local government climate adaptation and $900 million per year for improving disaster management.
The motion specified these funds should come through “the implementation of taxes or levies on the coal, oil and gas industries”. The motion passed.
📈 Rising risk: Research from the Australia Institute found the cost of insurance from climate-related disasters is now 12 times higher than 20 years ago, while local government revenue has only tripled.
🦘Across the country: The impacts of the fossil fuel industry on local councils differ drastically, but one thing remains similar: it is often councils dealing with the long term impacts of more frequent and severe disasters.
🐮Gippsland: In regional Victoria, Bass Coast Shire councillor Mat Morgan told the Gippsland Monitor the council is juggling multiple problems as a result of floods and water inundation.
“We've had to move our surf life-saving club. We've got properties in Silverleaves that are being held up by a rock bag wall, but these are not long-term solutions. We don't know how much land we're going to lose.”
🦈Sydney: In Sydney's North, Northern Beaches Mayor Sue Heins told the North Shore Lorikeet they're asking for this levy so council can prepare for a future with a less predictable, more destructive climate.
She said the council has absorbed “millions and millions of dollars of damage” from landslides, severe storms and coastal erosion in recent years.
☕️Melbourne’s eastern suburbs: Knox mayor Paige Kennett told the Eastern Melburnian a dedicated fund would “ensure the costs aren’t borne by ratepayers through insurance premiums or hefty rebuild costs”.
Boroondara mayor Wes Gault said climate-driven weather events mean “heatwaves will get hotter and longer, rainfall will get more erratic and storms will get stronger”.
🗣️ “Our support for this motion is not about the threat to Boroondara specifically, but reflects our desire to see more action taken by state and federal governments to support councils and the communities we serve,” Gault told the Eastern Melburnian.
🧑🌾 Western Victoria: A spokesperson for Golden Plains Shire Council said its support for the proposal stemmed from “on-going and increasing impact that climate-driven weather events are having on rural local governments”.
🗣️ “As a result of climate impacts we are increasingly seeing more concentrated rainfall events. This can lead to flash flooding,” a council spokesperson told the West Vic Brolga.
🗣️ “Councils need to provide and maintain many services and assets and the cumulative impacts of a changing climate are placing significant pressure on this.”
Watch the National Account’s Archie Milligan below: