Alison Barrett writes:
In the lead up to the Northern Territory election, health leaders are urging politicians to prioritise action on climate change and environmental health, as well as to consider climate and health in all policies.
They have also been urged to recognise First Nations Peoples’ knowledge and expertise in caring for Country and health and wellbeing solutions, especially given the disproportionate impact of climate change on First Nations communities in the NT.
All political parties in the NT are being called on to reduce their support of new fossil fuel developments that will delay transition away from fossil fuels.
“We are in a climate change emergency and it is perverse that NT continues to support any further fossil fuel extraction projects,” Dr Rosalie Schultz – public health physician, GP based in Alice Springs and member of Doctors for the Environment Australia – told Croakey.
These projects include fracking in Beetaloo Basin and the gas and petrochemical hub Middle Arm.
The urgent calls for climate action come as the NT Labor Government released its updated Gas Plan: A Pathway to 2030, which, according to the Environment Centre NT (ECNT), is built around plans to accelerate expansion of fracking and gas projects in the NT.
Kirsty Howey, Executive Director of ECNT, said the NT Government’s Gas Plan “ties Territorians to a dying industry and will deliver us an unliveable climate”.
Howey calls on politicians to ensure “strong investment in renewables”.
In good environment news however, following decades of advocacy, on the weekend the Federal Government announced it has advised the NT Government not to renew the mineral lease at Jabiluka uranium mine in the Kakadu National Park.
Climate and housing
Dr John Paterson, CEO of AMSANT, told Croakey this week there is a great need for all parties in the NT to prioritise environmental health and climate change, “which should be an urgent consideration in any housing discussions in the NT”.
Poor housing is a significant driver of health outcomes, he said. “More than half of Aboriginal people in the NT live in overcrowded housing and we are already seeing environmental health problems due to water insecurity and heat stress, in part, due to energy insecurity.”
He emphasised the importance of prioritising climate resilient public housing, “or these issues will worsen as temperatures rise”.
Paterson told Croakey that installing solar power for new and existing remote households is “just one measure” to reduce power insecurity and emissions, enabling communities to become more “resilient to the impacts of climate change”.
He shared the example of Jabiru, a small remote town, which has achieved at least 50 percent renewable power supply through a solar system and batteries supplemented by a diesel generator.
AMSANT is calling for solar power for all new and existing households, as well as recommending that all new builds – in public and private housing – are designed and built to respond to changing climate, with increased compliance requirements, Paterson said.
Engagement with land councils, Aboriginal Housing NT, and communities is also critical, Paterson said.
Paterson said that one way to achieve better engagement is through the establishment of an environmental health workforce.
As well as achieving several preventative measures including better education in remote communities, it would play an advocacy role, collaborating between sectors and with community to better understand and address the unique challenges they face where they are, according to Paterson.
The NT Council of Social Services urges political parties and candidates to commit to “alleviating energy hardship”, and to policies that “prioritise fairness and equity for all Territorians”, CEO Sally Sievers told Croakey.
Sievers echoed Paterson’s calls for climate resilient housing, including appropriate design, building and maintenance, and energy efficiency.
Ahead of the NT election, NTCOSS is asking for commitment to implementing minimum energy efficiency standards in rental accommodation, installing solar energy on all social housing and implementing much more ambitious solar energy targets, Sievers told Croakey.
NTCOSS would also like to see commitment to the legislation of a Climate Change Act to “focus on climate justice and a target of net zero emissions by 2050”.
“While the current NT Labor Government has committed to 50 percent renewables by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050, these need to be legislated targets through a Climate Change Act to ensure this is achieved and future leaders are held to it,” Sievers said.
“By taking action to respond to climate change already being felt in the NT and to reduce carbon emissions, the NT has the chance to tackle some long-entrenched disadvantage,” Sievers said.
Sievers told Croakey that NTCOSS’ latest Cost of Utilities factsheet revealed that – despite being one of the world’s wealthiest nations – there were 103,985 involuntary self-disconnections in households with prepayment meters in NT major centres last year, which occurs when households cannot afford to top up their meter.
This has a significant impact on people’s health and wellbeing if they cannot keep the lights on, safely store food, keep medications safe or heat or cool their home, she added.
John Adams, General Manager of Northern Territory at Jesuit Social Services, told Croakey they want a Climate Change Act with a specific focus on climate justice and a 2050 net zero emissions target.
“That will set a solid foundation to addressing some of the factors and reduce the harm it is already causing to some very vulnerable people,” he told Croakey.
Climate change is a major problem for the Territory, Adams said, “but for some reason is hardly in the conversation around this election”.
“We want to see climate change being talked about as the serious issue that it is”.
According to Adams, we don’t have enough research on how people are moving due to the impacts of climate change, where they are going and what they need – “that’s where the Government needs to start”.
“Once we know more, then you can start to work out what resources those communities are going to need and make some robust adaption plans,” Adams said.
Paterson at AMSANT told Croakey it is important to consider the impacts of displacement on Indigenous people in the NT.
“Rises in the sea level are likely to inundate coastal communities while extreme heat will be unsustainable for those inland,” he said.
“Alongside damages to the landscape, this significantly impacts our people’s connection to country, cultural strength and overall wellbeing.”
Widening gaps
The health experts interviewed for this story emphasised that impacts from climate change will increase inequities in the NT.
Paterson said the higher temperatures in remote communities will widen inequities in housing, energy and health.
Adams emphasised the urgency for action on climate change – “the longer we leave it, the less effective the planning will be and the more it will strain resources and reinforce social inequities”.
Climate change is something that is going to affect everyone in the Territory and if we’re not careful it will bring about further disadvantage for vulnerable communities and put pressure on health, housing, food security, and employment, Adams said.
Schultz told Croakey that “good health policy is health in all policies”.
It is much more than reducing emergency department wait times or hospital waiting lists, she said.
Crime and law and order issues that have come to attention reflect a lack of attention to health aspirations, according to Schultz.
“They need special attention to policies affecting young children, education, alcohol, housing and employment. While these are long term investments in a healthier future, they could also have immediate impacts.”
NT election campaigning should focus on recognising the expertise of First Nations people in caring for the environment and thriving with lower-impact livelihoods, Schultz said.
They should address energy security through efficiency and renewable energy, community safety in heat and other extreme weather events and modelling, planning and preparing for climate change impacts, which can disproportionately impact some groups, Schultz told Croakey.
Michelle Isles, CEO of the Climate and Health Alliance (CAHA), said that “free, prior and informed consent in relation to new fossil fuel development is critical to ensure that the direct and indirect health and wellbeing impacts and costs are known and understood by communities”.
She also emphasised the importance of enabling First Nations leadership on health and wellbeing solutions – person-centred care extending to community-centred care.
CAHA calls on NT election candidates to advocate a review of the NT Environmental Protection Agency and to advocate for independent Health Impact Assessments of all new development proposals.
Isles told Croakey that the NT Health Department has developed a leading strategy on climate and health to guide health systems. Resourcing this work is critical to ensure the NT has a sustainable and resilient health system safeguarding human health and mitigating the costs of inaction.
It is also important to ensure NT health workers are trained and equipped to respond to climate change challenges, to infrastructure, models of care and mental health support, she said.
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