In response to the Albanese government’s Future Gas Strategy, Parents for Climate’s CEO Nic Seton said:
“This announcement to expand polluting gas for decades to come is a betrayal of our kids who rely on us to protect them from rising costs of living and extreme weather impacts.
“Parents rely on the government to do what’s right by our kids, but this plan treats big gas companies as more important than our children. And it’s our kids who will pay the price across their lifetimes, because more polluting gas means more damage to our communities, higher insurance bills and risks to food supply.
“The plan to expand fossil gas pollution is a slap in the face for the majority of Australian parents who voted for climate action in the last election. These parents trusted our government with a duty of care to protect young Australians from climate harm, and right now it is failing that trust.
“The Morrison government’s proposed “gas fired recovery” was a mistake, and the Albanese government’s Future Gas Strategy risks taking us down the same path. We need to focus on clean energy so that we can move away from polluting fuels as fast as possible to protect the next generation and provide them with a better quality of life.
Billee McGinley, a mother from Darwin who travelled to Canberra to share her concerns about gas expansion with federal government representatives last year, said:
“Gas expansion directly threatens the health of NT kids through local pollution and increased extreme heat. We want our children to grow up safe in our communities, but this plan condemns them to dangerous heat, or having to find somewhere else to live.
"As parents we want to have confidence that our elected decision makers are listening to expert advice, scientific consensus, and free prior and informed consent from Traditional Owners when they make any decisions to approve fossil fuel projects such as those we are faced with in the NT."