Ms THEOPHANOUS (Northcote): As we work to recover from the pandemic, I have been pushing for climate action, clean jobs and renewable infrastructure to be a big part of our response. This is something my community and I care deeply about. Following the incredible announcements in last year’s budget, I knew locals would want to hear more about what we are doing to drive this along. So last week I invited the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change to join me in hosting a forum in the Northcote electorate to discuss our plan for a net zero emissions future.
I want to take this opportunity to say a big thankyou to everyone who came and submitted questions, topics and issues. Your passion and engagement is so important, and the range of interesting questions and hard-hitting topics was fantastic. A big thankyou also to the minister for sharing her time and insights and for her tireless work in this policy area, which has put Victoria at the forefront of climate action. Among the many topics discussed it was great to be able to share some details on our $1.6 billion investment in renewable energy, household energy efficiency and protections for our biodiversity. We were also able to gain more insight into the factors at play in determining our interim emissions reductions targets, and it would be remiss of me if I did not take this opportunity to again reiterate my support for ambitious targets. Most of all it was heartening and empowering to see the strong and decisive action of our Labor government in addressing climate change and talking about how we keep building on this momentum.
