I'm Clare, from Whadjuk Noongar boodjar (Perth, WA). This election, it is finally time for the Australian government to commit to no new fossil fuels. This means no more coal, no more oil and no more gas to be dug up from Australian soils and seabeds.

The Australian Government has agreed that global warming must be limited to 1.5 degrees, with both major parties setting a target of net zero by 2050 in order to achieve this. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported in 2024 that in order to meet our global commitments and prevent irreversible harm of climate change, we must halt all new fossil fuel projects immediately. 

That is why, at this election, I’m so concerned about the prospect of an extension of the North-West Shelf gas processing facility until 2070. Tucked away on the Pilbara coast of WA lies the nation’s dirtiest fossil fuel project. Owned and operated by everyone’s least favourite fossil fuel giant, Woodside, the North West Shelf has already emitted billion tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere over its 40 year life span. Allowing it to run for another 50 years would make it the biggest fossil fuel project in the Southern Hemisphere producing 4.3 billion additional tonnes of emissions – the equivalent of 12 new coal stations.

I want young people like me to know that a project like this only rips us off. Fossil fuel companies not only threaten our rights and the rights of future generations to a healthy environment and life-sustaining climate, but they cost us economically. These companies take Australian gas virtually for free and pay only a small percentage of their profits in tax every year. By comparison, Australian nurses pay more in tax than oil and gas companies. Not only that, but our government continues to subsidise the gas industry to the tune of $14.5 billion annually (2023), enough money to add dental to Medicare twice over. And speaking of cost of living, as Australian gas is largely shipped overseas, not only does its extraction do nothing to reduce our electricity bills, it has made them three times more expensive in WA since 2020.

The Labor government has postponed the final approval of the North West Shelf extension until after the Federal election, meaning whoever is elected in on May 3rd will have the final say on whether this disastrous project goes ahead. 

That’s why I’m voting for climate justice this election. The implications of our vote will be felt far beyond the next three years – it will affect our climate system, our marine environment, 50,000 years of cultural heritage and every living person for the next 50 years, the majority of whom are the young people of today and tomorrow.