As of the upcoming elections in America and people wanting different policies for their own reasons, I thought what about in Australia? What can I do that makes my community the best it can be. So therefore I decided to write a formal letter to my areas member of parliament, Ben Morton. I wrote about my beliefs on climate change and what himself and our community can do.

23.11.2020

Mr Ben Morton MP

6 Aveley St,

Willetton WA 6155

Dear Mr. Morton

I believe that the public made the right decision for many reasons and that we will be in a better position as a nation because of the result with electing you. However, I feel a strong need to point out that climate change remains a serious issue and concern for most of your supporters, especially for the younger generations. This was demonstrated when Zali Steggall was voted into Parliament instead of Tony Abbott, which in my view was due to her promises to take action on climate change. Zali was voted in due to her passion to stop the worst of climate change from occurring and I share that passion.

Human activities from pollution to over population are driving up the earth’s temperature and fundamentally changing the world around us. Although people are making some effort by implementing different strategies including adopting renewable energy sources like wind turbines and solar panels, it is not enough! I am therefore writing to express my concern about the imminent threat climate change poses to our country, to our native animals, to our people and the future of our children.

The impacts are beginning to show and I believe we must take immediate action before it gets worse. Did you know that climate change is effecting our:

• Environments: Global warming burdens biological systems through temperature rises, water deficiencies, expanded flame dangers, dry spell, weed and bug attacks, serious tempest harm and salt intrusion, just to give some examples. A portion of Australia’s incredible normal symbols, for example, the Great Barrier Reef, are as of now undermined.
• Species: One of every six animal varieties is in danger of extinction as a result of environmental change. To endure, plants, creatures and winged animals have two alternatives: move or adapt. With the speed of environmental change we are now encountering, it is unrealistic for animals to adapt rapidly enough to stay ahead of evolving conditions. What’s more, with the rapid destruction of our natural surroundings, relocation for animals is becoming progressively difficult.
• Nourishment and cultivating: Changing rainfall patterns are leading to progressively dryer seasons, increasingly common heat waves, flooding and extreme climate conditions. This is making it increasingly difficult for farmers, while the quality and sustenance of harvests is diminishing, making it increasingly costly to farm.
• Water: Reduced precipitation and progressively serious dry spells are leading to water deficiencies.
• Seaside Erosion: Rising ocean levels and progressively frequent and exceptional tempest floods will see more disintegration of Australia’s coastline and destruction of infrastructure and property.
• Wellbeing: Increasingly extreme and successive heat waves may cause increased death and disease, particularly among the old. Higher temperatures and humidity are likely to deliver more mosquito-borne disease.
• Harm to homes: Increasingly serious climate events like bushfires, storms, floods, typhoons and beach front erosion, will see increased damage to homes, while the cost to families to insure against such events will continue to rise.
• Coral bleaching: Rising temperatures and acidity in our seas and oceans is adding to significant coral bleaching events, similar to the 2016 event that damaged more than 33% of the Great Barrier Reef.
• Dry spell: Rising temperatures restrict access to our fresh water streams, dams and lakes. An example is the Murray-Darling River where we recently witnessed a significant loss of fish. As water accessibility diminishes, dry season conditions are badly affecting our fauna, agricultural communities and businesses.

While I acknowledge the Liberal National Party has a policy for climate change, I believe strongly that a greater commitment is required. We can limit climate change if greater action is taken and we are looking to you as our elected government to lead us in this.

The Labor Party did have some good ideas which are worth implementing. To begin with, I believe Australia should transition to fully electric cars. We are lagging behind the other countries in terms of this technology and usage and it can have a significant contribution in reducing our pollution levels given the high level of car use in Australia. To be specific, in 2016 vehicles produced over 59 million tonnes of emissions which contributed over 11% of all emissions produced in Australia. If this becomes a requirement over time and the government assists to develop a network to support usage, everyone in Australia could be driving electric cars within a short period of time and significant emissions reductions could be made. 

There are other innovations such as ‘Antismog’, which can be utilized by petroleum fueled vehicles as the transition occurs. The hydrogen-support innovation will dependably quantify and lessen air contamination from vehicles through hydrogen innovation. This is achieved by hydrogen being added to the air-fuel blend which facilitates an increasingly complete burning of the fuel and results in decreasing the quantity of unburned gases and particles. The equipment do this is additionally completely recyclable.

Also, we need a greater commitment to renewable energy. Fossil fuel energy and particularly coal, should be phased out quickly and replaced with wind, solar, geothermal and hydropower. I congratulate you on the Snowy Hydro policy, but we need more. Those Liberal supporters that rely on these industries need to be provided with assistance to transition to other industries and jobs as a priority. The volume of solar panel uptake in cities like Perth demonstrates a willingness from the community to see this happen. Government policy is essential to ensure this happens in a considered and affordable way.

Next, I am certain that Australia should invest in recycling equipment such as PELLENC ST’s. These are multi-material optical arranging machines designed to sort and reuse waste rapidly and precisely. They are intended to mechanize recycling while addressing some of the reuse difficulties of landfill by sorting in the range of 2 and 20 tons for every hour per machine. This is a flexible and upgradable arrangement which can adapt to new materials quickly, providing a longer life-cycle for the equipment. It is productive and limits negative plastic effects on nature. The PELLENC ST is at present being utilized throughout Europe and should be considered for Australia. Additionally,  the government should support increasing recycling for all residents with increased education on the benefits of composting.

Finally I believe that Australia should look at extracting greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The technology for this may not currently exist, but scientists are working to make this happen and the technology could be incredibly important in keeping the planet alive for generations to come. The Government should be investing heavily in technology to achieve these objectives, while supporting new industries and creating jobs for its people.   

Once again I want to congratulate you on your win, however please don’t abandon your supporters by not showing leadership in dealing with climate change. We need a strong economy, but we equally need a government that listens to the concerns of its people and particularly the younger generation and takes action to ensure we have a world that can continue to support us for many generations to come.

Yours sincerely

Grace Reinecke

This letter allowed me to express my opinion, and hopefully after it is received, Mr Morton will take some of my ideas into account.