Tasmania needs a dedicated climate change minister, says independent MP Helen Burnet, arguing the state can no longer afford to treat climate policy as a side issue.
Burnet’s first private member’s motion since leaving the Greens calls on the government to create a standalone portfolio and act on the long-stalled review of climate change legislation.
“We’ve got to make sure there’s adaptation and mitigation but also resilience building communities helping Tasmanians and stopping the risk,” Burnet said.
She warned that continued delay carried serious consequences.
“It’s an economic risk as well as an environmental risk … that this parliament needs to act on,” she said.
Speaking outside Parliament House, Burnet was joined by young science communicators who said dedicated political leadership was overdue.
Alyssa Seckinger-Crow, 21, is a University of Tasmania student, Australia’s 2026 High Seas Youth Ambassador.
She founded the Tasmanian Student Science Communicators Network, which has reached more than 800 young people across the state.
Seckinger-Crow said young Tasmanians were losing patience with a system that produced plans but lacked clear accountability.
“We have proposals, we have policies, but we don’t have action,” Seckinger-Crow said.
“[Young people are] just looking for tangible action in Tasmania so that we have a future that we can look forward to.”
Ruby Fox, 22, is an honours student in ecological modelling at the University of Tasmania and a member of Generation Justice.
She believes Tasmania is falling behind and needs someone in cabinet whose sole focus is the climate response.
“Tasmania often sits behind the land use environmental outcomes for our emissions reduction schemes,” Fox said.
“I think it’s time to step beyond that to understand how communities and specific industry bodies can overcome climate change.”
Burnet said she hoped Labor and the crossbench would back the motion when it is debated later today.
