The climate question

By Catherine Watson

HAVING been grilled by Phillip Islanders, Christians and farmers, on Sunday Bass candidates were put under the third degree by environmentalists at an election forum hosted by the Phillip Island Conservation Society (PICS).

About 60 PICS members and other locals gathered at Berninneit to question Victorian Socialists candidate Chris Jobe, Liberal candidate Rochelle Halstead, Greens candidate Sophie Thorn and Labor’s Chris Buckingham. One Nation’s Nikole Schellekens sent her apologies.

The most interesting exchanges came in response to a question from the floor directed at the Liberal Party’s Rochelle Halstead, asking how the Liberals could  justify a broader use of fossil fuels given that renewable energy and storage had given Victoria the lowest wholesale electricity price in the national electricity market.

Ms Halstead responded that it wasn’t just about cost but about ensuring supply through a diversity of sources.

The Greens’ Sophie Thorn had earlier talked about her work in mental health and the anxiety many young people feel in the face of climate change. Now the young candidate turned directly to the older candidate and said, very quietly, “It’s really hard to justify it.”

“It is a big question, Sophie,” Ms Halstead responded, looking a little uncomfortable. “It absolutely is.”

Ms Thorn continued: “It’s hard to justify because it’s pretty transparent that the major parties have failed us on climate change. They’ve ignored the warnings and they have kept opening fossil fuel projects.”

The first three questions came from PICS and had been supplied to candidates so they could prepare.

1. Climate change and coastal erosion

What actions will you support to help coastal communities prepare for climate impacts? Do you support nature-based erosion solutions over built solutions where possible?

Sophie Thorn said the Greens supported publicly owned renewable energy and an end to reliance on fossil fuels. The party would introduce a bill to ban corporate donations from the fossil fuel industry.

Chris Buckingham said Labor had led an orderly transition away from brown coal, with investment in offshore wind, large-scale batteries and storage. He acknowledged the difficult trade-offs involved in the proposed Port of Hastings expansion, which would support offshore wind but risk harm to Ramsar wetlands and require dredging in the bay.

He favoured nature-based, community-led coastal erosion solutions and opposed hard engineering such as concrete walls and pylons where they simply shifted the problem elsewhere.

Rochelle Halstead supported evidence-based coastal adaptation planning developed with local communities and councils. She favoured dune rehabilitation, revegetation and wetland restoration where possible, while allowing that engineered infrastructure might be needed to protect critical assets.

Chris Jobe also supported nature-based measures, including dune restoration, wetland buffers and native vegetation planting, but said they would not address the underlying problem without stopping approvals for coal mines and gas extraction.

2. Traffic and tourism

Do you support a co-ordinated traffic and tourist-movement plan for Phillip Island?

Sophie Thorn supported a traffic management plan and said the Greens wanted to make free public transport permanent. The party had also pledged to spend five per cent of the transport budget on safe cycling corridors.

Chris Buckingham pointed to Labor's $20 million investment in roundabouts on the Cowes-San Remo road, saying the road was under strain and good road conditions were important for safety and access. He also emphasised the connection between tourism and a healthy natural environment.

Rochelle Halstead said congestion on Phillip Island Road between San Remo and Newhaven was already affecting residents, businesses and visitors. A $35 million project was One Gippsland's top priority, but funding had not yet been secured.

She supported a coordinated strategy involving state and local agencies, community representatives, businesses, tourism operators and residents. It should address traffic flow and road safety, encourage public and active transport, and protect township amenity and environmental values.

Chris Jobe supported free, frequent, publicly owned public transport, connected cycling infrastructure and investment in regional connectivity. He said he would advocate for electric buses with door-to-door pick-up and more V/Line services.

3. Protecting Western Port

Do you support a whole-of-bay plan for Western Port, including a marine spatial plan and a dedicated annual fund?

Sophie Thorn said the Greens supported the Western Port Bay framework, removing sand mines from the Western Port Woodlands and, in the longer term, making the woodlands a national park.

Chris Buckingham said marine spatial planning for Western Port was already a government commitment and would proceed. He acknowledged that the bay had long received less attention than Port Phillip and other parts of Victoria. He would not commit to the proposed funding, but said he did not believe $2 million a year would be enough.

He also acknowledged the community’s angst over the Victorian Renewable Energy Terminal at the Port of Hastings expansion. “And indeed, that horrible collision between the need to grow that port in order to enable the transition to offshore wind, at the same time knowing that it can potentially do damage to Ramsar wetlands and indeed cause dredging in the bay. It's Hobson's choice.”

Rochelle Halstead supported stronger strategic planning and, in principle, a whole-of-bay approach involving government agencies, councils, Traditional Owners, environmental groups, industry and communities. Any dedicated fund should demonstrate clear environmental outcomes, good governance and value for taxpayers.

Chris Jobe supported the Western Port framework and the Western Port Region Strategic Management Plan. He said a Victorian Socialists MP would put community wellbeing, natural assets, ecosystems and biodiversity ahead of corporate profits.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

4. Energy mix

To the Liberal candidfate - how is scrapping the VNI West transmission link and opening the door to more gas going to ensure supply and reduce power prices?

Rochelle Halstead said the Liberals wanted a range of energy sources to ensure reliable supply for households and businesses. She argued that the transition should not depend on one part of the energy grid and said the party was not opposed to renewables, but believed other sources were needed to keep the economy running.

Chris Jobe said fossil fuels should have been phased out years ago. He favoured community energy grids, with solar power shared locally and stored in batteries.

Sophie Thorn said the major parties had failed to act on climate change and continued to approve fossil fuel projects. Labor had approved five new fossil fuel projects, she said.

Chris Buckingham said Labor had led the shift from brown coal to offshore wind, solar and large-scale storage, and that community energy grids were being established where they could work. He described continued gas extraction as a “necessary evil” during the transition. He

He supported VNI West, arguing that renewable energy being produced in western Victoria needed to be connected to the wider grid.

He said the energy transition required governments, businesses and communities to work together, even when difficult compromises were involved. He cited the Port of Hastings as an example, arguing that offshore wind would be difficult to deliver without the port, and the challenge was to minimise the environmental damage.

5. Port of Hastings

To the Labor candidate - can land north of the proposed Victorian Renewable Energy Terminal and storage tanks at the Port of Hastings be returned to nature?

Chris Buckingham said he would support the idea in principle, as part of a broader planning process that delivered environmental benefits alongside necessary commercial and human needs.

He said the same principle applied to the Western Port Woodlands: protecting the highest-value areas while taking a pragmatic approach to sand extraction and avoiding wholesale environmental damage. 

6. People or profit?

What distinguishes your party in terms of the benefits they could deliver to the Bass electorate.

Sophie Thorn said the Greens put people before profit.

Chris Buckingham said Labor also put people before profit, but described the party as pragmatic. It had made mistakes, he said, but had delivered schools, hospitals and the energy transition. Half of Victoria's energy was now renewable, with a target of 95 per cent by 2035.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to break the eggs,” he said, adding that Labor tried to do so carefully.

Rochelle Halstead argued that economic productivity and people's welfare went hand in hand. Without profits, she said, there was no money to invest in people and services.

She pointed to Victoria's debt, rising living costs and struggling businesses, arguing that the state needed a government with a plan and the experience to deliver it. “Cost of living is through the roof. Businesses are closing every day, and we sit up here and virtue signal. It infuriates me because people outside this room are really feeling it.”

Chris Jobe pointed to the profits made by Coles and Woolworths while households were being asked to tighten their belts, and criticised candidates who accepted donations from the two supermarket giants while claiming to represent working people.

Sophie Thorn said the Greens wanted to get money out of politics and stop vested interests, including gambling, property development and fossil fuel corporations, influencing decisions.

7. Gambling

A question to the Greens candidate challenged the party’s position on gambling donations, pointing to a $3.8 million donation from professional gambler Duncan Turpie.

Sophie Thorn said Mr Turpie had won money from the gambling industry and donated it to a party committed to taking on that industry. The donation, she argued, paled in comparison with the amounts the major parties had received from gambling interests.

8. Island exit

Candidates were asked what Labor and the Liberals would do to ensure Phillip Islanders were not stranded when an incident closed the bridge and sole exit road.

Chris Buckingham said the first step was acknowledging the problem. Phillip Island had one way on and off, and while the bridge was being repaired at a cost of $50 million, duplicating it was beyond the state's means.

He said the immediate priority was getting the road between San Remo and Cowes into good working order. After that, the community needed to have a serious discussion about alternative access, whether another bridge or a ferry.

Rochelle Halstead said Phillip Island Road had long been One Gippsland's top priority. As Bass Coast mayor, she had pushed the state government for funding without success.

She said the road was horrendous during peak season and that a second access point needed to be considered. She acknowledged that the idea of a ferry had divided the community in the past, but said it was time to revisit the discussion.

9. Treaty

The final question was addressed to the Liberal candidate and asked how her party justified abandoning Victoria’s treaty with First Nations people.

Rochelle Halstead said the community needed more education and discussion about what treaty meant, arguing that many Australians still confused it with the Voice referendum.

Chris Buckingham described treaty as a hallmark of the Labor government's work over the past decade. He said it had been a bipartisan process until the Liberals abandoned it under new leader Jess Wilson.

“It is possibly one of Labor's least popular policies within the broader community, but it's one we will always stand on principle. It's in legislation. It's in law. We signed it, and the Liberals, if they form government, should honour that commitment.”

Chris Jobe questioned the damage done by those who had sought to undermine the Voice referendum. He also criticised Labor for proceeding without bipartisan support, saying First Nations people needed a voice in decisions affecting them, not simply a voice to Parliament.

Sophie Thorn said the Voice had failed but Victoria had succeeded in establishing treaty, a historic achievement for First Nations people and the state. Treaty was about acknowledging past harms and ensuring First Nations communities had a genuine say in decisions affecting them, she said.