The Climate Election
Words Jess Bineth | Gadigal Country
We don’t know about you, but May 21 is a night we’ll remember for some time. Huddled around the TV as election results rolled in, we went from feeling white-knuckled nervous, to cautiously optimistic, to hands-in-the-air excited. Because once the counting of votes started, it quickly became clear we were finally having the climate election we so desperately needed to have.
So, how did this huge leap of progress happen? How did we go from the last federal election in 2019 – a moment of real despair for those of us concerned about the climate crisis – to having a parliament made up of more people than ever who care about protecting the environment three years later.
The answer lies in community action.
It was driven by people who saw a lack of leadership on climate action and decided to step up and do something about it. People who voted with the planet in mind, volunteered on local campaigns and donated to climate action. People who joined Groundswell.
We launched off the back of that shocking 2019 election and the tragic bushfire season that followed with the goal to accelerate money to climate advocacy. Together with our members we’ve raised and distributed over one million dollars that has gone directly to organisations who worked their hearts out to shift the dial on climate action in the lead up to the 2022 election.
But the fight is far from over. There’s still so much work to be done if we’re to limit rising global temperatures this decade and ensure a safe climate future.
So, what lessons can we take from the incredible work advocacy groups have recently done and build on the momentum of the 2022 election to make lasting change?
From good old-fashioned door knocking to posting a ‘Climate Action Now’ in your front yard, the swing towards climate action candidates traced a wave of persistent grassroots activity across the country.
Australian Parents for Climate Action contacted thousands of candidates, held a whopping 85 meetings with running candidates – including 50 in marginal seats – and hosted over 45 community events. Using school networks they repeatedly asked for action on climate change and made sure the issue stayed top of mind with candidates across the country.
Farmers for Climate Action held open community meetings in marginal electorates, met with candidates to talk about climate action and hosted workshops on community organising to activate their members. They engaged farmers on the fence about climate change, particularly in flood and fire affected electorates like Gilmore and Page, mobilising a conservative sector of the community on the issue.
The millennial generation is fast becoming the nation’s largest and one of their top concerns is climate change. Over the last few years they’ve made their growing rage at government inaction known through the School Strikes for Climate, and this election their voices could be counted.
Australian Youth Climate Coalition harnessed this momentum by supporting first time voters with enrollment and educating many on how to vote. An influx of new voter signups led to a record number of people enrolling this year, and by focusing on key seats like Kooyong, Brisbane and Boothby they helped support the swing towards teal independents.
SEED, a First Nations youth-led environmental organisation, continued the incredible momentum they created during the 2020 Northern Territory election. They helped people living in remote Aboriginal communities get to the polls, building up First Nations electorate power and ensuring as many voices as possible were counted.
When we think about climate action it’s images of mass protests down city streets and picketing outside mining sites that come to mind. But more often than not progress happens when friends and colleagues sit down together and chat it out.
Hunter Jobs Alliance, a collective of unions and environmental groups based in the nation’s mining heartland, know the best solutions for the clean energy transition must come from within the community. By holding workshops to help unlock solutions, they were able to run a campaign by speaking directly to regional values and shared interests rather than messages that increased scepticism or hostility.
Doctors for the Environment Australia used their trusted influence to break through partisan ideologies and talk to conservative candidates about the inextricable link between the planet’s health and community health. This messaging supported the incredible momentum of the teal campaign in seats like Wentworth, Curtin and Boothby.
The consequences of the climate crisis are already being felt by many across the world. Telling these stories helps the rest of us see past the abstract science of climate change and understand the gravity of its meaning.
Emergency Leaders for Climate Action and Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action work to bridge the gap between the impacts of climate change being felt at a community level with the policy change that needs to happen at a government level. They strategically wove frontline climate stories into local campaigns in fire-affected electorates, which saw significant swings towards climate action candidates.
Our Islands Our Home combined traditional election campaign tactics like billboards with creative storytelling to advocate for the protection of the Torres Strait Islands. An exhibition at the Biennale of Sydney and a design collaboration at Australian Fashion Week put Islander stories in front of new audiences. In her first week as Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong toured the Pacific, highlighting the region as a policy priority.
If we’re to have any chance of limiting global warming, we must listen and learn from First Nations people about how to live sustainably within our country’s living land and waterways.
Indigenous Peoples Organisation provides strategic advocacy and interventions within the United Nations, in turn putting pressure on our nation’s leaders to step up. In the lead up to COP27 later this year, they’re building up the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and lobbying the government for robust policies steeped in restorative justice.
Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council is an alliance of Elders and emerging leaders from six independent nations of the Fitzroy River Catchment in the Kimberley, Western Australia. The organisation is challenging power dynamics around land development by advocating for the rights of the river in a legal and governmental context. In this way, they’re providing a model for how first law and Western law can coexist.
More than anything, what we’re taking away from the climate election is when enough people decide to take action, together it adds up to big and meaningful change. But the work doesn’t stop now. We have momentum on our side and we must build on this moment.
The Albanese government has a clear mandate for action to tackle the climate crisis, but they need to be held to account to make sure they legislate policies to ensure a just climate future. We have a powerful climate action movement ready to do this work.
Most of the organisations Groundswell funded in the lead up to the election achieved their big wins with a very lean team. With further support, we can unlock monumental impact.
We fund climate action.
You can too.
By becoming a Groundswell member you’re directly supporting the work that makes change happen. What are you waiting for?
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