Australia would have a Climate Response Service to put thousands of people on the ground and help prepare for fires, floods, and cyclones; and assist with the extensive cleanup after they strike, under a Greens plan to protect communities from disasters supercharged by coal and gas. The "climate army" would be funded by making big coal and gas corporations pay more tax.
Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt MP, Deputy Leader and Greens Climate Adaptation & Resilience spokesperson Mehreen Faruqi, and Richmond candidate Mandy Nolan launched the plan today in the Northern Rivers, a region that was still recovering from the 2022 floods even as this year's Cyclone Alfred struck.
As the climate crisis caused by coal and gas makes extreme weather conditions more frequent and destructive, thousands of volunteers such as the mud army after the Brisbane floods have found themselves taking on an increased burden of preparation and cleanup works - but this "climate army" currently operates without national support or co-ordination.
The proposal to commit $1bn a year over three years would create a service to be managed by the National Emergency Management Authority, working with local communities to provide skilled, scalable support in a crisis. Specifics would be devised through the NEMA's consultation with communities, the ADF, and local service providers and volunteer groups.
Evidence suggests that the Climate Response Service should assist in:
- Ensuring a reserve of volunteers are recruited, trained, and supported to deploy when needed, including under the management of authorities like the RFS and SES;
- Handling logistics of disaster preparation, such as ensuring stocks of sandbags are available and where they need to be;
- Co-ordinating and supplying existing community based volunteer groups during a disaster, and providing both logistical and organisational support;
- Managing the cleanup after disasters, including community rebuilding works where necessary.
This would raise the threshold before action is required of the ADF, freeing up military resources to respond to the biggest incidents and to focus on their primary role of national defence. Evidence provided to the recent Select Committee on Australia's Disaster Resilience found that the ADF is being increasingly stretched by the increasing frequency of callouts to global warming charged natural disasters, and lacks the resources to handle incidents like bushfires.
The recent Defence Strategic Review has said that Defence is increasingly required to respond to climate change and that the ADF should be used as a last resort.
Experts predict the upcoming parliament will be a shared power parliament, and with the Greens pushing to expand in seats like Richmond, Wills and Macnamara, the party is in a strong position to keep the Liberals out and push Labor to act. The Greens seats in Queensland, and target seat of Richmond, have been among those most impacted by the climate crisis.
Nearly 1 in 2 coal and gas corporations pays no tax, and the Greens say that ending fossil fuel subsidies would fund this service and more. Yesterday's revelatory report from The Australia Institute showed that Labor paid $15b in fossil fuel subsidies in FY24/25, giving $28,381 a minute to some of Australia's most profitable companies to make the climate crisis worse.
As stated by Adam Bandt MP, Leader of the Australian Greens:
"Communities across the Northern Rivers and Queensland are bearing the brunt of the climate crisis caused by coal and gas, and brave volunteers are spending countless hours protecting people and cleaning up afterwards, but too often the government is underprepared and can't stay to help the community put the pieces back together" Mr Bandt said.
"Coal and gas are fuelling these fires and floods, but instead of protecting the community and properly funding the cleanup, Labor and Liberal are making the problem worse by approving over 30 new coal and gas projects.
"A national Climate Response Service would help co-ordinate the thousands of volunteers who already do this lifesaving work across the country, and we'll make the coal and gas corporations pay for it."
As stated by Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens & Climate Adaptation & Resilience spokesperson:
"We need to rapidly move away from coal and gas, but the climate crisis is already here - and it is devastating communities across the country," Senator Faruqi said.
"When disaster strikes, it's not the government that shows up-it's volunteers. Thousands of everyday people are on the frontline, supporting communities, battling fires or floods, and cleaning up the destruction caused by coal and gas companies. We need to take action to ensure that communities are adequately supported and resourced to prepare for and respond to climate-driven disasters.
"The Greens are the only party fighting for real solutions-stronger disaster response, resilient communities, and an end to the reckless expansion of coal and gas. It is time for leadership that puts people before polluters."
As stated by Mandy Nolan, Greens candidate for Richmond:
"Our community is bloody tough and pulls together like no other - but as things get worse, we need the government to step up," Ms Nolan said.
"Politicians in Canberra might see floods and fires as a few days of headlines, but for us, it's months or years of cleanup and rebuilding - with no guarantee that it won't just happen again.
"Thousands of volunteers do incredible work when disaster strikes - from saving lives via helicopters, to shoveling out mud from homes, often without specialised training, much-needed insurance, or mental health support.
"We need a climate reserve with trained people to pick up tools when there's more jobs to do, the machines and equipment to take on specialised work, and the resources to bring everything together - even when power and phone lines go down.
"It's a big job, but the first job of any government should be to protect people. Labor should be building up a Climate Response Service to help deal with climate change, not making it worse by opening new coal and gas."
