Amidst devastating floods over east and growing calls for climate action, the Greens are urging Perth Festival, WA Youth Orchestra, and WA Symphony Orchestra to end their sponsorships with Woodside and Chevron and for the WA State Government to provide supplementary funding while new sponsors are secured.
As stated by Australian Greens Senator for WA, Dorinda Cox:
"It's deeply disappointing that the Perth Festival - an event that is a huge highlight in our arts calendar - is being sponsored by companies like Woodside that profit from the destruction of our climate."
"It's not acceptable that this event is being sponsored by one of the nation's biggest fossil fuel polluters. Woodside is drilling and blasting our oceans and with risky seismic surveys, and has plans for the development of the Scarborough Gas Project - the biggest carbon bomb in our nation's history. They shouldn't get the opportunity to 'greenwash' and normalise their activities.
"Well done to those Perth Festival artists who have called this out, alongside Greenpeace Australia and 350 Perth and many others. We must keep fighting to change the corrupt political systems that continue to support exploring and burning fossil fuels for greed, a system that is cooking our planet and our oceans. We need everyone to stop these greedy corporations using opportunities to justify and elevate their dangerous activities."
As stated by The Greens (WA) spokesperson for Climate Change, Dr Brad Pettitt MLC:
"Woodside and Chevron alone are responsible for 14% of Australia's total Scope 1 emissions and over a third of WA's total annual emissions. As one of the largest exporters of LNG in the world and the only state in Australia with rising emissions, WA's inaction will very literally have global implications.
"Just last night the IPCC released their 6th Assessment Report and it's unequivocal: the climate delay and 'smouldering dumpster fire of business as usual' that governments like the McGowan and Morrison ones insist on is going to cost billions of people a livable future. This is far greater than politics now; our actions in the next 8 years will impact generations.
"From flooding in Queensland and New South Wales to heatwaves and bushfires in WA, the catastrophic effects of climate change are playing out in our backyards right now.
"If we want any chance of mitigating the worst of climate change, we need to put an end to the influence that gas companies like Chevron and Woodside have had in our communities and politics for too long.
"We have all the technologies we need to address climate change, we just need different politicians. I want to be a part of the generation that acted for future generations while we still could, don't you?
Statement ends
