While you’re talking to the oil and gas companies, Minister...

...hit the ‘bludgers’ with a new tax!

WAS Cr Mat Morgan using the monthly Bass Coast Shire Council meeting on Wednesday this week as his personal soapbox as a Greens’ candidate, as suggested by Cr Ron Bauer?

Or can local councils really do something to force oil, gas and coal companies to compensate them for the impact of climate change?

Is that even within the remit of local government, as queried by Cr Jan Thompson?

Whatever your assessment of the Notice of Motion moved by Cr Morgan at this week’s council meeting or the passionate address he gave in support of his call to action from fellow councillors, he got five out of nine councillors to support him: Cr Tracey Bell, Cr Tim O’Brien, Cr Jon Temby, Cr Brett Tessari and himself of course.

Cr Bauer and Cr Thompson were joined by Cr Rochelle Halstead and Cr Meg Edwards in opposing the main intent of the motion, that Bass Coast write to the Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy, the Hon Chris Bowen MP, calling on him to slap a new tax on “large fossil fuel companies”, which he was sanctioned for calling “bludgers”, to support the response of local government in dealing with extreme weather and coastal inundation.

 “Madam Mayor, our community deserves a clean, sustainable future where people, not polluters, come first. Recent data has found that the Australian government is subsidising the fossil fuel industry by more than $30,000 a minute, which is a 10% increase in the past year,” said Cr Morgan in his opening remarks.

 “Half of the world's CO2 is coming from just 32 fossil fuel firms. Now I feel like I've spent my fair share of time listening to climate sceptics, and maybe that's what I signed up for. But you know, who doesn't care if you believe in climate change, your insurance provider and your mortgage lender.

 “Australia's first National Risk Assessment was released last year. It was created by the Bureau of Meteorology, the CSIRO, the ABS and Geoscience Australia, with input from over 350 technical and scientific experts. It says that 750,000 properties may become uninsurable by 2050. That's 24 years away, 1.5 million Australians at risk from sea level rise.

 “You know, in 2050, I'll be 52 years old. This isn't theoretical for my generation. We're putting up hundreds of metres of sand and rock bag walls now. Every month we come in here either with petitions asking us to fund climate mitigation measures or planning applications for houses in areas that will have high tides lapping at their front door by the time I retire.

 “The climate risk assessment says that we're on track to wipe $611 billion off the Australian property market by 2050. You know which properties they're referring to, Silverleaves, Inverloch, Grantville, every one of our council wards.

 “People in our coastal communities are watching their house values decrease, not knowing whether to cut their losses and sell now or hold on in hopes of a buy-back scheme. That's not just Bass Coast. Our neighbours in South Gippsland have coastal inundation set to wipe out Venus Bay and Tarwin, Lower, Sandy Point on the other side of the state, Mount Alexander Shire, passed a motion unanimously, similar to mine, after their community was decimated by bush fires over summer.

 “Our federal government has approved over 30 new coal and gas projects while taking millions in political donations from the very same companies and allowing them to get away without paying their fair share of tax, and we get left with the consequences; our councils, our community and our young people.

 “So, I'm calling on our council to write to the Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy because it's time for the polluters to pay for the damage they are causing. We need a levy on large fossil fuel companies to raise additional funds and support the Local Government and communities dealing with extreme weather events and coastal inundation.

 “It's not just me saying this. The Municipal Association of Victoria says that we need a $10 billion fund to address climate change. The cost isn't going away. Someone's going to have to pay for it, and I refuse to sit by and let our governments and the fossil fuel companies perpetrate damage in our communities and then ask us to foot the bill.

 “You can't release a risk report and flood mapping akin to the setting of a horror film, then tell us to fend for ourselves. When I was a kid, I was told if we broke something, I'd have to pay for it for my pocket money. Well, Exxon, Santos, Woodside, how about it? My generation deserves a safe climate future. They're destroying it, so they should cough up,” he said.

 Most councillors had something to say in response.

 Cr Temby agreed saying it was about time the oil, gas and coal companies were held accountable.

 Cr Tessari acknowledged the passion and knowledge that went into Cr Morgan’s speech and acknowledged that something was seriously wrong with the climate. While he was sceptical about hitting the mining companies with a new tax, because they’d only pass it on, he ultimately voted for it.

 Cr O’Brien said councils were supposed to be about roads, rates and rubbish but had been left to pick up the pieces of climate change and he favoured a taxing regime like that introduced in Norway where the mining oil and gas companies contributed strongly to funding the country.

 Cr Thompson spoke next saying that while she acknowledged the sentiments about local communities, farmers, residents and the environment being impacted by climate change, “we as a council should stick to the mantra of roads, rates and rubbish and leave this issue to be resolved at a higher level of government”.

 Cr Ron Bauer didn’t mince his words in response to Cr Morgan.

 “Madam Mayor, fellow councillors and ratepayers watching this meeting. We have on numerous occasions in this council and in the last council, acknowledged climate change. The Australian weather has always been harsh. Let me remind you of the famous Australian poem written in 1904 by Dorothea Mackellar, a Sunburnt Country. If the term ‘climate change’ had existed, then she would have woven it into a poem. I love a sunburnt country, a land of climate change.

 “The earth's climate and shifting coastlines have been active for millennia. The Sahara Desert was a forest, the great Australian artesian basin was an inland sea, and the ancient city of Alexandria in Egypt was swallowed up by the Mediterranean Sea long before climate change became the woke catch phrase it is today. In a real sense, all of us are dealing with climate change.

 “All the sub-points of these motions have been aired before and voted on before. The way this motion is constructed is jingoistic, and without any clear strategies that Bass Coast could implement that have not already been implemented.

 “I draw councillors’ attention to item 8.3 later in this agenda, the endorsement of the Bass Coast Climate Change Action Plan 2020-2030 Mid-Term Review. I think you'll find that the majority of what is being mooted in this agenda item has already been adopted by the shire.

 “Point two, asking council to write to the Federal Minister is outside the realm of Council. It is these kind of actions that Council Watch and the state government is trying to curb, As Cr Morgan well knows the states are sovereign, and the federal government cannot impose the findings of such an inquiry on the funding of local governments, on the states.

 “In the interest of time, I will not continue to pull this motion apart line by line. It is clear that the councillor is using the chamber to espouse the Green Party's platform for the upcoming state election, even if we vote the motion down, he's achieved his purpose. Touché Cr Morgan.

 Cr Bell spoke next saying the Local Government Act puts climate change “within the remit of council business”.

In “Overarching governance principles” the Local Government Act says this: “The economic, social and environmental sustainability of the municipal district, including mitigation and planning for climate change risks, is to be promoted.”

Published in 2020, the Local Government Climate Change Adaptation Roles and Responsibilities under Victorian legislation - Guidance for local government decision-makers expands on that entry in the Local Government Act and principally applies to council decision making, especially in relation to planning.

 Cr Morgan was asked to sum up before the vote, with several points of order raised and the Mayor Cr Halstead cautioning Cr Morgan on his language when he referred to the mining companies as “bludgers”.

 “Yeah, there's a lot of points there that I don't think are really worth picking up. But one of them that I will just dispel some myths on is the argument that we shouldn't increase tax on the fossil fuel giants, because they'll pass on the costs. That's implausible,” said Cr Morgan.

 “We export 80% of our gas overseas. We have the world's largest coal export terminal in New South Wales. Australia's fossil fuel sector is overwhelmingly export orientated and operates in globally competitive markets. Prices are set internationally, not by domestic policy. Companies can't simply increase prices above global benchmarks without losing market share.

 “Woodside Energy made a $5.6 billion profit in 2024. Santos made $1.16 billion profit last year. Here's a few examples. The UK introduced an energy profits levy in 2022 on oil and gas producers…”

 Cr Morgan was asked by Cr Halstead to stick to the points raised during the debate.

 “With respect, the argument was that fossil fuel companies will pass on the costs. So, I'm using some examples of where similar levies have been introduced, and the result… (Thank you, councillor). So, the UK introduced an energy profits levy in 2022 on oil and gas producers. Rates were increased over time and raised billions of pounds of public funding. Prices rose before the levy and fell while the levy was still in place. The EU introduced a windfall profits tax, and many EU countries combined that levy with consumer protections.

 “And just one final example, as was brought up in the debate as well, was that Norway has a sovereign wealth fund and a 78% tax rate. If companies could simply pass taxes on to consumers. Norway would have uncompetitive energy exports, but it doesn't. So don't fall for the lies of the fossil fuel lobby. These bludgers can afford a levy to help pay for the damage they're causing…”

 Cr Morgan was asked to retract his language.

 “Oh yes, sure. Fossil fuel giants should pay for the damage they're causing. It's them or our residents. So, I'm going after them, and I sincerely hope my colleagues join me in that, rather than passing the cost on to ratepayers.

The Notice of Motion was passed on a vote of 5:4 and Bass Coast will now write to Minister Bowen calling for a new levy on oil, gas and coal companies to help raise additional funds to support the response of local government to extreme weather and coastal inundation.

Given the present fuel crisis, such a request comes at an interesting time.