What do the North Shore’s Liberal councils think of Net Zero?

At different levels of government, the Liberal Party has split on Net Zero. 

While the federal party has walked away from the energy policy, the NSW Liberal Party has reaffirmed its commitment. 

However, where the North Shore is concerned, there is only one level of government where Liberals actually hold power: local council.

Liberal Mayors: Across the North Shore, there are three local councils presided over by majority Liberal councillors and a Liberal Mayor: Hornsby Shire, City of Ryde, and Hunters Hill. 

During a national debate on energy policy, where do these local leaders stand?

Hornsby Shire keeps it going: Most forthcoming was Hornsby Shire Mayor, Warren Waddell, who told the Lorikeet the upper North Shore council “continues to work towards net zero by 2050” as articulated in their Climate Wise Hornsby Plan adopted in 2021. 

• Hornsby Council is on track for its targets, having reached a 32 percent emission reduction by 2025. 

• Hornsby, along with all other North Shore councils, has 100 percent of its facilities’ electricity supplied by solar farms in Moree, Hillston and Nevertire. This agreement will need to be renewed next year.

Ryde keeps it straight: Ryde Mayor Trenton Brown would not answer the Lorikeet's questions directly, but a spokesperson for the City of Ryde told the Lorikeet the council remained “fully committed to its net zero target by the year 2035”.

Nothing from Hunters Hill: The Mayor of Hunter’s Hill, Zac Miles, did not respond to the Lorikeet’s questions.

Taking up the fight: In the past decade, particularly those years under the leadership of Scott Morrison, local government has taken up the mantle of climate action. 

• When the Morrison government initially adopted its first net zero emissions scheme in 2021, local government bodies across the state, including Willoughby, Hornsby Shire, and Lane Cove council, already had similar targets in place for years.

• Similarly, while a climate emergency has not been formally declared in Australia or NSW, local councils across the North Shore moved to declare such an emergency as early as 2019. 

Why local government? Of course, local government bodies have significantly smaller scope of responsibilities than state and federal governments. 

As such, the implementation of climate policy is much less onerous. The lack of an upper and lower house simplifies the passing of policy as well. 

However, local government bodies are also often those closest to the tangible effects of climate change.

Looking back: During the Black Summer of 2019, mayors across the state called on the Australian Government to acknowledge the link between climate change and the catastrophic fire conditions. 

Among these were the mayors of Ryde and Hornsby, who joined other councils in bushfire prone and affected areas to speak to the effects of climate change visible at the local level.