The NSW Government’s almost $500 million package to accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles [1] is the beginning of the end of the internal combustion engine’s 120-year monopoly on road transportation in NSW. [2] 

“This is an historic and very welcome package from a government that has significantly increased its commitment to climate action over the past few years,” Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said.  

“It will not only reduce the climate impact of road transportation, it will reduce the health impact that cars have on people by improving air quality across our congested cities. 

“I commend the Premier and all the ministers who have made this possible, including Treasurer Dominic Perrottet, Transport Minister Andrew Constance, Deputy Premier and Regional NSW Minister John Barilaro, and Environment Minister Matt Kean.” 

The package includes: 

• Cash rebates and stamp duty exemptions on purchases of new EVs;  
• Targets for a converting the government fleet;  
• Cash incentives for companies to install charging station across the state;  
• Transit lane access for peak-hour EV commuters; and 
• Postponing an EV road user charge until 2027 or when EVs make up 30% of new vehicle purchases. 

“Making the state’s vehicle fleet run on 100% clean energy is the next big challenge after transitioning the electricity grid in NSW,” Mr Gambian said. 

“We still have a long way to go to clean up the grid, but the government has shown today that it understands the urgent need to also tackle the transport sector. 

“About 22 per cent of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions are from the vehicles, so electrification of transport is a key to tackling climate change. [3] 

“The government’s electric vehicle package signals the beginning of the end of the internal combustion engine as the dominant mode of road transport in this state and the dawn of a new, clean energy era.” 

Earlier this month the Nature Conservation Council launched its campaign to convert the state’s fleet to electric vehicles. The council’s Accelerate NSW campaign includes policies to: 

• Waive stamp duty for EV purchases
• Reduce registration fees for EVs
• Provide direct incentives for individuals and businesses to upgrade to EVs
• Mandate EVs for all new government fleet purchases  
• Set EV ambitious vehicle targets for the NSW fleet 

“We are very pleased that the government has acted on most the of priorities we have identified,” Mr Gambian said. 

[1] NSW to abolish stamp duty on electric cars in an effort to boost uptake, SMH, 20-6-21 

[2] The Motor Car in NSW, 1900-1937, Lester Hovenden, Sydney University, 1981  

[3] NSW Emissions, NSW Government, 2021    

210621-sub-redbank-singleton-da-submission.pdf

The Nature Conservation Council today launched its campaign to accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles in NSW as a new plank in its broader campaign to transition the state economy to 100% clean energy by 2030. 

The council’s Accelerate NSW campaign includes policies to: 

1. Waive stamp duty for EV purchases   
2. Reduce registration fees for EVs 
3. Provide direct incentives for individuals and businesses to upgrade to EVs 
4. Mandate EVs for all new government fleet purchases  
5. Set EV ambitious vehicle targets for the NSW fleet 

“Making the state’s vehicle fleet run on 100% clean energy is the next big challenge after transitioning the electricity grid in NSW,” Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive said. 

“We still have a long way to go to clean up the grid, but we can’t wait until that’s done to tackle the transport sector. 

“About 20 per cent of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions are from the vehicles, so electrification of transport is a key to tackling climate change.  

“The measures we’ve outlined in our Accelerate NSW plan will kick start the industry in NSW and put us on the right track. 

“In the next two weeks, the NSW government is finalising its plans to support or tax electric vehicles as part of the budget process.  

“We strongly urge the government to support the transition from petrol and diesel by waiving stamp duty for EV purchases, slashing rego costs and providing direct incentives that will encourage individuals and businesses to upgrade to EVs sooner rather than later. 

“I know that many government ministers understand that accelerating the roll out of electric vehicles benefits everyone. But there are also some who would prefer to slap a new tax on electric vehicles.   

“The government should be making electric cars affordable for everyone, because healthy air and a safe climate benefit us all.” 

The Nature Conservation Council has released a video and started a petition. We are urging people who want to see electric vehicles made more affordable to sign the petition and support the campaign. 

Petition: nature.org.au/ev 

Statement by Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian 

“We welcome Chris Minns’ election as leader of NSW Labor and look forward to working with the new Labor leadership team to put climate action and the protection of nature at the top of the political agenda. 

“The people want an effective Opposition with a comprehensive set of policies to tackle our most urgent environmental issues and force the government to compete for votes in these vital areas of public policy.  

“We hope that the new Labor leadership team can start a race to the top against the Coalition in the critical areas of koala conservation, climate action and the reform of water and forestry management. 

“Labor has an opportunity and a responsibility to come up with a plan to end native forest logging in a way that supports workers into a sustainable plantation-based industry. 

“And Labor must take up the fight on land clearing, especially terrible proposals that would accelerate the extinction crisis for koalas. 

“The Coalition government is taking strong action on the energy transition and national parks, but is getting wrong on water, koalas, logging and land clearing. 

“The new leader must lead on climate action policies that go beyond a just energy sector transition and includes electric vehicles and agriculture. And end the false choice between jobs and a livable climate.  

“Labor must recommit to supporting a healthy Murray-Darling Basin through better water management and flow targets. 

“It must also show leadership on the pressing issue of native forest logging. Our forests and the wildlife they support are dying because of unsustainable logging.” 

The Nature Conservation Council has welcomed plans to create a new hydro-electricity facility on the edge of Lithgow in the state’s central west. 

“Energy Australia’s plans to establish a pumped hydro-electricity facility near Lithgow will help the city maintain its position as a key player in the state’s electricity sector,” Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said. 

“This is the latest in a series of exciting developments for Lithgow over the past 12 months, including plans for a grid-scale big battery and an eco-precinct on the old Wallerawang power site, and a push to establish an electric bus manufacturing plant in the city. 

“These are the sorts of initiatives Lithgow needs to prosper as the economy moves past coal-fired power to clean, renewable wind and solar.” 

Energy Australia proposes to pump water from Lake Lyell to a reservoir it plans to build high on the side of Mount Walker, west of Lithgow.  

During times of peak power demand, water will be released from the reservoir to drive electricity turbines before returning to Lake Lyell. 

Recent developments and announcements for Lithgow 

• Big battery. Neon is building a big battery on the site of the decommissioned Wallerawang power station site. [1]  
• Eco-precinct. An eco-precinct is also planned for the Wallerawang power station site. [2]  
• Bus manufacturing. The Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils is lobbying to establish an electric bus manufacturing plant in Lithgow. [3]  
• Pumped hydro. Energy Australia announces plans for pumped hydro.  [4] 

References 

[1] Neoen plans massive 500MW big battery west of Sydney, 11-1-2021, RenewEconomy  

[2] Bettergrow's exclusive agreement for Wallerawang Power Station site extended, 3-4-19, Lithgow Mercury.  

[3] Why regional NSW could emerge as a hotspot for electric bus manufacturing, 8-10-21, The Driven  

Electric Dreams: Local EV bus manufacture needs investment vision, 8-2-21, Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils  

[4] EnergyAustralia excited about pumped hydro possibility near Mt Piper, 3-6-21, Energy Australia  

NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean and Federal Shadow Environment Minister Chris Bowen were keynote speakers at a Nature Conservation Council Business Forum at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney this morning.

The sold-out event, titled Risks and Opportunities in a Changing Climate, drew 190 business representatives keen to explore the opportunities presented by the move to a post-carbon economy.

Mr Kean said: “Green is now mainstream. The capital is green, with traditional funding sources now demanding that businesses have a credible path to lower emissions as a condition of credit.

“This greening of capital is affecting the state debt market, too. Delivering cheap green power into the supply chain of every business in NSW is an urgent priority.

“It will help the business community to remain internationally competitive and play its part in responding to the challenges of climate change.”

Mr Bowen said: “The moral case for action on climate change is so strong it doesn’t need to be our focus any more.

“What needs to be our focus now … is the economic case for action on climate change in our national interest, in our country’s interest.

“Not because Joe Biden asked us to; not because Boris Johnson asked us to; but because it is in the interests of our country … and our economy.”

Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said: “The business community, like the wider Australian community, sees the economic potential of new-energy businesses and they are looking for the sort of leadership being provided by Minister Kean and Mr Bowen.

“At the Nature Conservation Council we are in the business of changing hearts and minds.

“We’ve launched this business breakfast series because we think our work of grassroots organising, of talking to Australians in their own communities about nature and climate action, and building the capacity in communities is not just good lefty activism, it is also good business.

“The business community is increasingly seeing the work we do and the agendas that we are setting as more than morally worthy, but also aligned to their strategic interests.”

The $600 million the Morrison government plans to spend on a new gas peaking power plant at Kurri Kurri in the Hunter Valley would be much better spent on battery storage.  

The government announced today [1] that it would spend more than half a billion dollars of taxpayers’ hard-earned money on a gas plant that will probably operate only one week a year. [2] 

“That sort of money would buy seven batteries the size of the one the South Australian government installed to firm its energy supply in 2017,” Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said. [3] 

“Instead of lumping taxpayers with a $600 million white elephant, they could leave a legacy of more than 700 MW of clean, on demand capacity. As a practical engineering solution, the government’s announcement it just doesn’t add up.   

“This announcement is nakedly political, timed to occur just a few days before the Upper Hunter by-election. 

“Once again, the federal Coalition has put short-term political opportunism and the interests of their fossil fuel donors ahead of the long-term interests of Australians and the climate. 

“Scott Morrison is spending money on fossil fuels like a drunken sailor. The problem is that taxpayers and the climate will be left with the hangover long after he last left politics.”  

References  

[1] Federal government will spend $600 million on new Kurri Kurri gas plant in the NSW Hunter Valley, ABC, 18-5-21 

[2] Hunter Valley gas plant ‘would only operate a week a year’, SMH, 13-5-21 

[3] The original installation in 2017 was the largest lithium-ion battery in the world at 129 MWh and 100 MW. 

The Nature Conservation Council urges all candidates in the Upper Hunter by-election to put climate change, air quality, the protection of wildlife habitat, and river health at the top of their agendas.

“Climate change is the number-one economic and environmental challenge facing communities of the Upper Hunter and Liverpool Plains, so all candidates need to make clear what they will do for the region on climate,” Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said.

“Any candidate who does not have climate change at the top of their platform is not really representing the true interests of the community.

“All candidates need a plan for meaningful action to cut emissions, and ensure that Hunter communities have a realistic pathway to new economic opportunities in a low carbon economy.

“Change is coming to the Upper Hunter, one way or another. These changes could be very positive, or they could be very negative – it all depends on how our politicians and governments handle it.

“So far, the major parties are putting the Upper Hunter on the road to ruin by refusing to deal frankly with climate change and the decline of the coal industry.

“The coal and electricity generation industries in the Upper Hunter contribute more than any other electorate to climate change in NSW, so it must play a leading role in slashing our state’s emissions.

“It is not fair to expect people in this region to carry the burden of that alone, which is why we are calling on the NSW Government to establish a Community and Industry Transition Fund and Transition Authority.”

Mr Gambian said candidates must also advocate strongly to improve very poor air quality in some parts of the electorate, and support measures to reverse the decline in native bushland and species under threat from logging and land clearing for mines, farming and urban development.

The Nature Conservation Council calls on all candidates to support the following measures:

Support communities

• Use coal royalties to create a multi-billion-dollar Community and Industry Support Fund.
• Establish a Community and Industry Support Authority to collaborate with workers, communities, and industry on Community and Industry Support Plans tailored to different coal communities.

End the expansion of coal and gas

• Stop releasing farmland and wildlife habitat for coal and gas developments.
  Rescind the recent release of land around Rylstone and Wollar for coal exploration.
• Stop issuing coal and gas exploration and mining licences in the Upper Hunter, Liverpool Plains and Central West.
• Ban new coal mines and gas fields.

Improve local air quality

• Set air quality standards in line with world’s best practice and improve air quality monitoring.
• Implement an air-pollution reduction strategy across NSW to improve air quality by slashing emissions.
• Reduce emissions from coal-fired power stations by installing readily available technology, updating pollution licences and improving monitoring.

Protect, restore and reconnect wildlife habitat

• End native-forest logging, a key driver of the decline of koalas and other forest wildlife.
• Stop land-clearing for mining, agriculture and urban development.
• Create a network of revegetated wildlife corridors through the Hunter and Liverpool Plains.
• End the use of biodiversity offsets, except in exceptional circumstances.
• Ban the burning of native forests for electricity and reject the proposed recommissioning of Redbank Power Station to burn forest biomass.

Restore rivers and wetlands

• Mandate environmental flows to keep our rivers healthy.
• Tighten the water-use monitoring regime to end water theft and give certainty to all water users.
• Enforce the law regarding floodplain harvesting, and ensure all floodplain harvesting regulations guarantee sustainable water flow for river health and downstream communities.
• No new dams.

The Nature Conservation Council of NSW is the peak conservation organisation for NSW, representing more than 160 local, regional, state-wide environment organisations.

The Nature Conservation Council will today refer to ICAC the sale of biodiversity offset credits in relation to major roadworks in Western Sydney.

Lisa Cox at the Guardian Australia today has revealed more details of windfall profits made by those associated with EcoLogical, a company that advised the government on biodiversity offsets in relation to the proposed M12 motorway and the Northern Road expansion. [1]

“These reports are deeply concerning and undermine public confidence in the whole offsetting system,” Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said.  

“They also raise many unanswered questions about how this scheme is being administered. 

“The community must be satisfied that people who have made huge windfall profits through the sale of biodiversity offset credits did not have access to private reports and other insights that may have given them an unfair advantage. 

“The government must explain who and on what basis credits were issued for the offset sites, how the sites were selected for purchase, and how the prices for those offsets were set.  

“How was it possible for windfall profits to be made by a very small number of people in a very short period of time? 

“We are writing to ICAC today asking it to look into this matter using its powers to investigate matters affecting community confidence in public administration.  Only ICAC can properly investigate, examine and cross-examine all the issues. 

“The problem with commodifying natural assets like water and biodiversity is they inevitably become prey to speculative investors rather than being managed and protected for in public interest. 

“We believe the whole system of offsetting now must be the subject of an urgent review to ensure it does what the public expects -- protects threatened wildlife and bushland in a rigorous and transparent way.”

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/28/deeply-concerning-government-consultant-made-millions-from-nsw-environmental-offsets

Nationals Leader John Barilaro has thrown the community of Wollar near Mudgee under a coal truck by using a new process to open up land for exploration without consulting the people who live there. [1]

“Wollar already has three massive coal mines on its north-western flank – Ulan, Moolarben and Wilpinjong. The creation of new mines east of Wollar will make the village virtually unliveable,” Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said.

“Ulan and Wilpinjong continue to have massive impacts on the local community, wildlife and water supplies.

“Opening up the east of the valley for more mining will create a 40km-long death zone through what was a very beautiful part of the state. It’s a crying shame.”

Mr Gambian said the decision to issue exploration licences before consulting affected communities broke the government’s 2014 promise to give communities a say before exploration permits were issued.

“The NSW Government set up the Strategic Release Framework in 2014 to quell public anger about the vast areas of prime farmland and wildlife habitat being destroyed by coal and gas projects,” Mr Gambian said. [2]

“The government boasted at the time that the framework incorporated recommendations of the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Chief Scientist and that it would restore public confidence in the process.

“Under the framework, the community had the right to comment very early in the process through a Preliminary Regional Issues Assessment.

“But the government has removed that right for some communities by introducing a new process called Competitive Allocation, which sidesteps community consultation and goes straight to the issuing of exploration licences.

“It is an outrageous betrayal of community trust. Farmers and communities are yet again collateral damage in the Nationals love affair with big coal.

“And the government’s approach appears to be completely ad hoc. Just up the road at Rylstone, locals are being given the chance to participate in a preliminary assessment of a proposal to open that beautiful area for mining. The government’s approach is cruel and chaotic.”

References

[1] https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/nsw-government-to-release-wollar-site-and-prohibit-open-cut-at-dartbrook

[2] https://resourcesandgeoscience.nsw.gov.au/miners-and-explorers/programs-and-initiatives/strategic-release-framework-for-coal-and-petroleum-exploration#:~:text=The%20Strategic%20Release%20Framework%20for,for%20coal%20and%20petroleum%20resources.

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