Climate change & the environment

Big business is looting the natural world in the name of short term profits. Workers and the environment are expected to pay the price for the impact of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. In NSW we have seen the catastrophic impact of climate change and deforestation – runaway bushfires which threaten the lives and homes of working class people.

There are 13 major coal companies extracting coal in NSW which paid only $2.95 billion in royalties in 2024-2025, while trashing the planet. We’ve been sold a lie that a transition to renewable energy is underway and that it can happen without sacrificing the profits of fossil fuel corporations. The corporations which have enriched themselves off destructive industries need to foot the bill for a transition to a sustainable society that mitigates the impacts of climate change and reverses biodiversity loss. Market based schemes that trade carbon or forest credits are a hoax that protects the rich rather than protecting the environment we live in. A just transition to end fossil fuels can only be paid for by nationalising fossil fuel companies without compensation.

We’ll fight for

Phase out fossil fuels

Nationalise coal and gas companies without compensation under a government run NSW Minerals corporation to oversee a just transition and phase out of all fossil fuel extraction using current profits to pay for transition infrastructure and worker jobs guarantee.
Provide a jobs guarantee for all workers impacted by the transition to renewable energy.
Reduce emissions by 75 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, achieve a zero-carbon economy by 2035 and a permanent net-negative emissions economy by 2040.
Immediate ban on all new coal, gas and oil projects. Reverse the approval of any which are not yet operational.
Reverse the Minns government’s approval of gas exploration for Bancannia and Pondie Range Troughs in far-west New South Wales.
100 public energy, reverse the privatisation of all electricity without compensation. Shift NSW to 100% renewable energy by 2030 and transition to net negative emissions by 2040.
Accelerate the closure of all coal-fired power generation.
Urgently construct solar and wind farms and upgrade the power grid with battery storage to enable the quick transition of NSW homes and workplaces to an all-electric, post-gas energy system.
Establish a state-run renewables manufacturing industry (solar photovoltaic, lithium-ion battery and electric vehicles), with guaranteed secure jobs and retraining for workers from the fossil fuel industry.

Climate resilience preparation & protecting communities

Create a paid professional rural firefighting service and SES which will not only fight fires and rescue people from floods and other natural disasters but undertake year round mitigation and preparation.
Establish a $10 billion fund to create a network of climate resilient community centres across 40 major regional hubs in NSW. Community centres can be used for immediate community needs and emergencies such as bushfires and floods.
Build contingency telecommunications and back-up power infrastructure
Climate resilience research and community outreach for democratically informed disaster relief preparation and adaption strategies to protect biodiversity, water resources and agricultural yields.
Develop a comprehensive urban heat adaptation strategy — including mandatory tree canopy targets, green roofs and walls, shading requirements in new developments, cool corridors in areas of high heat stress, and publicly funded cooling centres accessible to vulnerable communities.
Require all new public buildings and public housing to be built to standards that protect residents from extreme heat without reliance on air conditioning, and fund retrofitting of existing public housing stock to the same standard.

Protecting the nature world from exploitation and pollution

Immediately ban all native forest logging.
Create and expand protection sanctuaries for endangered species.
Abolish market based biodiversity offsets.
Launch a reforestation initiative to reverse biodiversity loss.
No to the marketisation of water licencing. Water should be treated as a life source not a commodity. Prioritise water resources for domestic use and environmental and cultural flows. Strict water use limits for agriculture and industry, especially in catchments at high drought risk. Mandate water saving and recycling technology where possible to reduce industrial water use and end water intensive cash crop production which threatens water availability in vulnerable areas.
Create a scientific ombudsman to monitor new and existing ‘forever chemicals’ and expand the existing ban on PFAS chemicals.
Introduce PFAS limits in water in line with the strongest European standards. Provide free on demand blood tests for people living in areas with high PFAS levels for health monitoring. Open or reopen compensation schemes for impacted NSW communities like Wreck Bay, so that financial compensation meets ongoing health and retributive justice needs for communities.
Expose and fine corporate polluters.
The over-extraction of water and pollution by big agribusiness has caused a water crisis for regional Indigenous communities. Self-determination for First Nations communities over land and water rights.
No new data centres. Data centres have detrimental environmental footprints, disproportionately high water and electricity demands, and no community benefits to the areas they are placed.
Require existing data centres to meet mandatory standards on water consumption, energy use and renewable energy sourcing, with binding targets and enforceable penalties for non-compliance.
No off grid gas fired power stations for data centres. Any power demands for existing centres muste be powered by renewables and cannot be offset using carbon credits.
Strengthen the ban on nuclear energy, uranium mining and radioactive waste dumping in NSW. Nuclear energy is not safe and it’s not renewable. Nuclear energy is unstable and unsafe in a system which prioritises cost cutting over the safety of human life and the natural world. There is no safe storage of uranium mining waste or nuclear waste which remain radioactive for tens of thousands of years. Uranium mining waste is usually dumped in third world countries or marginalised communities, like remote First Nations communities. So-called ‘peaceful’ development of nuclear energy is inextricably linked with the development of nuclear weaponry.
No AUKUS submarine base in Port Kembla, or anywhere in NSW. The AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine program is an aggressive imperialist pact which threatens the safety of the world. The obscene expense of $368 billion should be going towards improving the lives of working class people, instead it makes war or nuclear accident more likely.
End all planned waste to energy schemes and ban the creation of future waste incinerators.