Campaign for business-as usual: Environment missing

Last week, four South Australians were infected by Japanese Encephalitis. This is a deadly mosquitoborne disease.

Unprecedented torrential rains are causing devastating floods in northern NSW and Queensland.

Scientists have warned for years about the dangers of both these and many other scenarios as a result of global warming’s inevitable effects.

Despite the mounting evidence that a rapidly changing climate can cause serious damage to our economy, health, and safety, climate and environmental issues have not been mentioned in this election.

It is not surprising that health care and cost of living dominated the campaign again, but the absence of a contest between the major parties over environmental and climate issues is rare.

Conservation SA, like other peak bodies has coordinated a lobbying campaign encouraging all parties and candidates commit to a series policy improvements.

Despite some good achievements over the last four year, including banning single-use plastics, support batteries and celebrated increases in protected area such as Australias largest National Park at the MungaThirriSimpson, the Liberal party decided to not respond to our survey and give commitments on what it will deliver in the next term.

This contrasts with four years ago, where the Marshall-led Opposition made a series if strong commitments to the election, while the Labor government chose not to make any further concessions to the outcome. Now, the situation is reversed.

Even though the consequences of a changing environment are shown every night on the news, the biggest existential threat to humanity is not being discussed.

As a result, there is a wide gap between the Labor and Liberal parties in terms of what they have promised to do for the environment over four years.

However, a healthy environment is vital for our state’s prosperity and well-being.

Five of the top ten most dangerous risks are environmental, including the top three spots on the list of economic growth risks over the next ten years in the World Economic Forum Global Risks Report.

Cross-over diseases from nature and the impacts of flooding, fires, heatwaves are threatening our welfare more and more.

Many of us were able to access nature during lockdowns, which kept us sane.

The future of 40% percent of our state’s government is at stake, as there are many visions of how to manage our pastoral lands.

The Muray Darling Basin Plan will be renegotiated as the river Murray’s lifeline. South Australia has had to shout and cry since Federation to get its fair share of water. Now it is clear that we will have again to fight for our water.

In four years, we will have reached the halfway point of the critical ten years that we have to stop the climate spiraling out of control.

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A contest of vision and ideas is what an election campaign should be. The competition between political parties should be to show us that they have the best policies to deal with an ever-changing future.

Our greatest existential threat isn’t even mentioned, even though the consequences of a changing environment are shown every night on the news.

It is not all the fault of our politicians. Issues gain momentum when candidates and parties believe they will change voters.

If citizens want to see more action in climate change, cleaner air, or fewer trees being chopped down, they need to demonstrate that we will reward or punish those who will prioritize them.

Conservation SA chief executive Craig Wilkins