Transcript of media conference with Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, Greens Transport Spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young, Bicycle Network Spokesperson Alison Hetherington, Greens local government candidate Gemma Kitsos, Hobart Rivulet, 13 May 2022.
Peter Whish-Wilson
Starting from the right we’ve got Gemma who was Greens candidate for the recent Legislative Council elections. We’ve got Alison Hetherington, and Alison, you’re representing Bicycle Network. And we’re very pleased to have Senator Sarah Hanson-Young here today, who amongst other things is our Transport Spokes nationally as well as our Environment Spoke. Sarah’s always happy to answer any questions you might have around Federal Labor’s announcement today on funding. Well, sounds like a funding pledge but we’ll get into that in a little bit of detail so I might start.
Right so the Greens are very excited today, to be standing here making a funding pledge to make Hobart the centre of a very exciting national trial to roll out active transport networks. This is something that the greater Hobart mayors and bicycle communities and stakeholders in Tasmania have been calling for. The Greens back in 2010 when we formed government with Julia Gillard’s Labour government, we delivered $80 million for a federal bicycle path plan, and that money was spent. But we learned a lot from that funding program. This pledge today builds on what the Greens have delivered previously but we also have some lessons that I think Allison will go into, in a little bit more detail.
Nearly nearly one in six Tasmanians actively rides a bike according to the latest census survey data. But we know that data also tells us that only 1.8% of trips around the greater Hobart area are people on bicycles. This funding pledge today will essentially double or enable a doubling of the amount of people that will be able to ride bikes. So around 3.6 to 4% of people on bikes. Now, that might not sound like a lot. That’s a saving from carbon abatement of 768 tonnes. Now that’s equivalent of planting nearly 38,000 trees in Tasmania. So getting better bicycle infrastructure in place is good for people’s health. If it’s done the right way, it makes bicycle and other communities safer. We know it’s a cost saving in terms of congestion, because congestion in our cities costs us billions of dollars a year around the country. And we actually know it’s great for the environment. And now Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is going to talk to you a little bit more about that.
Sarah Hanson-Young
Sarah Hanson-Young.
Thanks, Pete. Well, it’s fantastic to be here in beautiful Hobart. It’s always lovely to come to Tasmania, and particularly to announce a policy like this and a commitment like this, which goes right to the heart of what the Greens stand for. We are in this announcement tackling the climate crisis, the environment crisis, and helping communities and families with everyday living costs. We know that people want to be able to ride a bike safely. They want to be able to get from A to B without having to dodge big trucks and cars. They want to be able to know that when they take that trip that it’s safe, and they’re looking after their own health. That’s what this project is all about. So having a pilot program here in Hobart, we will negotiate this, when the Greens in the new Parliament will be in the balance of power in the Senate, and we will push for programs like this to be rolled out.
I think having a pilot like this in Hobart shines a light on these issues and makes, you know, Pete’s job here as a Senator for Tasmania really, really important. As Pete said, when the Greens were last imbalance of power with a Labor government, we pushed for these types of projects, and we got them. They were delivered. We’re going to do that again. Of course, at this election, voters right across the country, not just here in Tasmania, are more worried about the environment and the climate crisis than they’ve ever been. They’re looking for candidates and parties who are willing to take the crisis seriously, to put our money where our mouth is and to take the action we need in Canberra.
And that’s why today, the Greens are announcing this but it is also why as Labor is announcing their environment policy today, you can see why you need the Greens in the Senate. Because the Labour’s announcement just doesn’t go far enough. We need in this country an environmental watchdog to hold governments – local, state and federal – to account to protect the environment and to protect our wildlife. We need more money put on the table.
Earlier this week, back home in Adelaide, I announced the Greens’ environment policy, $24 billion over the next decade. That is the amount of money we need to invest in saving our wildlife, protecting our forests, making sure that we can replant diversity, biodiversity in the places it’s been lost. That is the type of commitment we need. That’s what all the experts say. The money that Labor’s put on the table today is nowhere near enough. But it’s a challenge to Labor and Liberals right now. We in the next government whoever becomes prime minister, we need an environmental watchdog, a cop on the beat, because for far too long our environment has been left waiting. It is not being looked after and it’s not being protected. It is only the Greens, who will be there strongly arguing and fighting for the environment. We will do that in the Senate. We’ll do that with Peter Whish-Wilson reelected back to the Senate. And we will do that with the Greens in the balance of power.
Alison Hetherington
It’s great to be here today to see the Greens become the first political party to step up and back the greater Hobart mayors call for an active transport network in Hobart. We’d like to see all political parties back this call. For too long we’ve had plans for cycleways in Hobart that don’t have the funding that’s needed. Local council, state government provides funding, the federal government doesn’t. We want to see a change in that and have the federal government funding cycleways so people can choose to ride for transport. More people riding means less pollution, less congestion, a healthier population ,and more money in people’s pockets.
Gemma Kitsos
Gemma Kitsos, Greens candidate for HCC.
Hi, well I’m very excited to hear this announcement from the Greens today. I am a regular bike user in Hobart, I commute daily to work and also to the school to drop my children off. I think the the establishment of well connected and safe cycleways is essential to make more people ride their bikes. Data shows that more women will ride their bikes with safe cycleways and more families will ride their bikes with safe cycleways. So not only do we have the environmental benefit, but we also have the health benefit to our communities. We have more school children that are settled and able to learn when they use active transport on the way to school. And we have less cardiovascular disease when we have more people being active throughout their life.
So for me to hear this announcement today is a great joy and I will be using these cycleways to commute as much as I can and to advocate for that within my community. Because I just think with the the revolution of e-bikes, and the further distances that we can travel, Hobart can become a leading cycling city in Australia. I think there’s going to be less excuses for people to get out there and change their lifestyle in this positive way. So for me, this announcement is wonderful, wonderful thing for the Hobart community.
Journalist – Ainslie Koch
Senator you mentioned this is a pilot program. Will it run indefinitely? Or how long would it be for?
Peter Whish-Wilson
This would be over full over forward estimates, but we’d like to see it funded beyond that. Obviously, this is a pilot project for Hobart, which is a very exciting place to have this. But may I say, Hobart’s one of the most livable cities in the country, and we’d like to see it more so. We’d like to see this rolled out in other towns and other cities. When when you look at the federal government’s infrastructure funding, they’re spending billions of dollars every year on building highways and roads. You know, go down the Midland Highway, it’s… I don’t think there’s anything more Tasmania than roadworks on the Midland Highway. But where’s the money for bicycle paths? If we can just get twice as many people just in Hobart alone, and just in the greater Hobart area, if we can get twice as many people on their bikes regularly riding to work, it’s the equivalent of planting 38,000 trees in terms of what it’s doing for climate change in the environment, not to mention making people safer, and providing a link that can be used by all sorts of different active transport networks, not just necessarily bike riders. It’s better for walkers, it’s better for people on scooters and a whole range of other other mobility devices.
So this is a bit of this is this is an absolute no brainer. I expect that the Labor Party and the Liberal Party would support this kind of funding. And if it works – and part of it’s about working with mayors who are all obviously all very supportive of this and are asking political parties to pledge – the fact that we’ve got local government support for it means that there’ll be a lot learnt on the processes to roll out these these links. So it’s not just obviously, there’s protected bike paths, local bike paths, the whole range of different paths that have been promoted. But also the links between these paths – maybe Alison or Gemma could talk to you more about the kind of planning – the whole philosophy that goes with this. That’s what we need to look at.
When the Greens delivered the 80 million in the previous package, it pretty much was soaked up immediately by what we call shovel ready projects. But what we discovered was that the money wasn’t necessarily being used to drive new new bike paths and a growth in this kind of active transport network around the country. It disappeared very quickly. We’d like to actually look at the processes that enable this to happen, and how efficiently that can be done. And certainly at the lowest possible cost for local government and state governments and learn from those processes and roll that out around the country.
Journalist – Ainslie Koch
Are there projections of how many cars would be brought off the road?
Peter Whish-Wilson
No, but obviously if one in six Tasmanians identify as riding a bike regularly. We know that the latest census and also that was 2019, that’s the last data that we could get our hands on, showed that only 1.8% of total trips were classified as bike trips. Now, I think this NRMA made a submission to the Legislative Council in 2021 2020, they did an inquiry into traffic in Hobart, and NRMA said 8% of people either ride or walk. So obviously there’s a lot more people walking in writing. But we’d like to see both those both those kinds of categories increase. So yeah, obviously Hobart if we can, we’re going to see it change over the years that’s inevitable. Congestion costs this country billions of dollars every year, that’s recognised This will probably be a cost saving. We’ve pledged $18 million, that’s what the greater Hobart mares are asking for. That’ll pay for itself I have no doubt in no time.
Tasmanian Times
Yesterday Elke Van den Brandt, Belgian Minister for Transport, said at a conference in Europe that cycling is 10 times more important than electric vehicles in terms of achieving net zero in urban environments. So do you think this kind of program should be part of Australia’s Net Zero plan regardless of who forms government?
Peter Whish-Wilson
I’m happy to answer that. But I might ask Sarah, she’s got the national picture.
Sarah Hanson-Young
We need a transport plan for this country that drives down pollution. And that means an investment in electric vehicles and electrifying the transport network. But of course, giving people the option to ride to work and to home safely, encouraging more people where they can in urban environments in particular, to be able to get on a bike and do it safely cutting pollution and looking after their health. It’s a win win. And if you can get from A to B efficiently, safely and quickly, why wouldn’t you do it? It should be part of a national plan to drive down pollution. This government, the Morison government, seems to have an allergic reaction to anything that really drives down pollution, whether that’s electric vehicles, or giving people the opportunity to take clean, active transport, like cycling.
Journalist – unidentified
Senator, how confident are you with another power sharing arrangement with the Labor Party?
Sarah Hanson-Young
Well, we’ve got a week to go before election day, people are already voting of course, right around the country. We’ve had record numbers of people already pre-poll. And what we’re hearing directly on the ground is that people don’t trust either of the major parties to just do it on their own. They want integrity back into politics, they want a government that takes the climate crisis seriously. And they want politicians who are able to be trusted. So having a strong cross-bench, in the House of Representatives, and in the Senate, is going to be vital to getting good outcomes.
Whoever wins government, the Greens want to see the Morison government gone. They have been bad for the country, bad for the climate, bad for people. We need a change, but you can’t trust the Labor Party on their own. If you care about climate change, if you care about the environment, if you care about keeping people healthy, whether it’s having their teeth fixed through putting dental into Medicare, or giving them safe bicycle options, you’re going to have to have the Greens in the Senate. And that’s why I’m here to support Peter Whish-Wilson being reelected.
Peter Whish-Wilson
Peter Whish-Wilson.
Could I just said something very quickly to that. Both Sarah and I ran in the 2010 federal election. Remember, just weeks before that election, Julia Gillard was walking around the country talking about having a citizen’s assembly on climate change. She was gonna you know, she was gonna have discussions with the community rather than acting in the end. And she of course, she said she wouldn’t negotiate. Her ministers said they wouldn’t negotiate with the Greens. But what happened was that the Greens did negotiate with Labor, we formed an alliance and we delivered the clean energy package, which included $10 billion for renewable energy. In fact, the world-recognised gold standard legislative framework for action on climate change, that was all delivered along with a bicycle path we’re talking about today, dental care into Medicare for kids, a whole range of things that the Greens sat down and negotiated with Labour. They said they weren’t going to, and that’s exactly what they did. And I have no doubt that they will do exactly the same thing. If they get the chance to form power, they will come to the negotiating table and the Greens will they will be there to push them further and harder on the things that really matter to Australians.
Journalist – unidentified
(inaudible).
Sarah Hanson-Young
You can’t save the reef if you keep opening up new coal and gas. It’s as simple as that. If we’re going to save the reef from collapse, if we’re going to save the environment from collapse, then we have to get serious about cutting pollution. And that means stopping making climate change worse. Every time the Labor Party or the Morison government commit to opening a new coal mine, climate change gets worse. If you want to save the reef, you have to have no new coal and gas. It’s pretty simple. We’ll be pushing for this in the parliament. We will push Labor to accept this because it is the only way we’re going to reduce pollution.
Journalist – unidentified
Today we’ve got the school strike for climate. Is it your position that children should be leaving their schools and going to rally?
Sarah Hanson-Young
Well, I will be joining the school students here in Hobart at the climate rally. What heroes these young people are. What incredibly important leadership that they are showing, while their political leaders are missing in action on the climate crisis. We have Australia’s young people crying out for common sense, crying out for political action that looks after their future. I’m very proud to be joining with the students here in Hobart today and good on them. And there is no point sitting back and thinking that Scott Morrison or a Labor Party that continues to open more coal and gas mines is looking after their future; they’re not. We need young people’s voice to be heard. And so many of these young people are not going to be able to have the chance to vote on next Saturday’s election. It is up to the rest of us to vote for them, to vote for the climate and to vote for their future.
Peter Whish-Wilson
I hope every single one of us can look back on this press conference today when we’re a little bit older and remember what we were discussing. Remember these kids are going to strike for climate to send a message to politicians. How sad is it that this election we’re now voting for the future of the Barrier Reef? The science tells us that under Labor’s plan to cut emissions 43% by 2030 we’re gonna get an annual bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef, something that didn’t happen until 1998. Our best science models didn’t predict it was possible to have back to back bleaching on the Barrier Reef. But that’s exactly what we got in 2016-17.
This government, the Liberal government ,doesn’t even have a plan for emissions reductions for 2030. It used to be 26 to 28%. They’ve abandoned that, they’ve even abandoned net zero by 2050. That is a death sentence for the Barrier Reef. So young people today are going to be going out and protesting. Sarah and I and all of us will be joining them. We’re in a situation a time in history, where we are literally voting for the future of the Barrier Reef: if you vote for the Labour Party, with their current emissions plan, and you vote for the Liberals, you are voting for the death of the greatest natural wonder in this world, the single biggest living organism that you can see from space, it is dying before our eyes. And only we can fix that. This is a political problem.
Could also say this is really important for me personally, and I know for the Tasmanian Greens who’ve been campaigning on this issue. It’s not just the Great Barrier Reef that’s suffering from climate change. The ocean absorbs 80% of the world’s heat. Off Tasmania’s coastlines we have seen our water temperatures 40% above their long term average in the last six years. This has been noticed by the IPCC and the world science community. Tasmania is a global warming hotspot off our coasts. We’ve lost 95% of our giant kelp habitat that’s essential to productive and healthy fisheries. We’ve got rec fishing groups like Tarfish, asking politicians to pledge money to try and regrow these giant kelp forests. We’ve got them asking to pledge money to remove urchins that have come down on the warmer currents and are literally eating all our roots.
We have got the commercial fishery organisation TIFIC, who’ve written to myself and every politician around this state, asking us to pledge money to help with ecosystem restoration off Tasmania’s coasts. Anthony Albanese is out there throwing another couple of hundred million at so-called fixing of the Barrier Reef, more reef adaption funds. Where’s the money for Tasmania? We’ve been asking this for years, we’ve now got fishing communities in Tasmania, formally asking the Labour Party, Brian Mitchell and all the other candidates around the state ‘what are you going to do about Tasmania’s reefs?’ Why are you giving $200 million to the Great Barrier Reef and not a cent to Tasmania’s reefs? We’ve got to throw everything at this problem. We’ve got to gotta give it a serious crack and no one’s doing that. So I hope you I urge you to get in touch with the rec fishing groups and the commercial fishing groups today and ask them about this because this is an issue that all political parties should be coming together on.
Tasmanian Times
Transport funding isn’t everything as we’ve seen with the $20 million in the Hobart City Deal for light rail. So what are some of the other issues that need to be resolved, some of the roadblocks in the way of getting a network of separated, safe, multi-user paths?
Alison Hetherington
Alison Hetherington.
The biggest issue we face with getting a safe network of cycleways is political will and funding. We have plans in place, we know people want to ride, we know having separated cycleways is the reason that people don’t ride; they feel too unsafe in traffic. So we need that funding commitment and the political will to reallocate that road space to ensure the separated cycleways. Until we do that anything else that we put in place in terms of support programs, in terms of subsidies for bikes, etc. is not going to work to its full extent. We need funding for separated cycleways so people feel safe to ride for transport.
