The Colo River The Wollemi Wilderness - Colo River Country  (Ian Brown)


2022 Federal Election
- Macquarie Electorate -
Overview & Voting -  Candidates -  Questionnaire -  Response

Questionnaire

We asked seven of the eight candidates* nine questions on key environmental issues in the Macquarie electorate and nationally.

We also asked them what they intended to do for the environment if elected (personal conservation goals).

The questionnaire we sent can be found here.

A link to the candidate’s full response and the combined details of all responses can be found here.

* One Nation’s Tony Pettitt did not publicly announce his candidacy before the close of nominations on April 21, nor had he made any announcements or provided any contact details prior to the finalisation of this compilation of the questionnaire responses.

The responses

Out of the seven candidates contacted, three responded to our questionnaire (in ballot paper order):

The Society would like to thank all the candidates who responded to the questionnaire.

The responses are not interpreted or evaluated in this summary.

Who didn’t respond

The four candidates who did not respond to our questionnaire (in ballot paper order) are:

* A response to the questionnaire from the Coalition Campaign Headquarters (Liberal/National Party) was received on 4 May - nearly a fortnight after the deadline for responses. The response did not follow the requested format and was received too late to be included in reviews and publicity.

The environment questionnaire provides Macquarie candidates with an opportunity to be open and accountable about their environmental policies. The Society is concerned at the very low response rate from candidates this year.

A non-response means that residents in the Macquarie electorate will have no information on these candidates’ policies and positions on critical issues, such as ensuring protection of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, action on climate change and sustainability, and political integrity. The Society believes the questionnaire assists in ensuring greater transparency and accountability and we urge all candidates in the future to participate.

What they said

There was broad agreement amongst the three candidates who responded to the questionnaire on most of the issues.

Susan Templeman (Labor) did not indicate a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer to most of the questions except for a ‘yes’ in her comment to questions 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8c.

Greg Keightley (Animal Justice Party) and Tony Hickey (The Greens) answered ‘yes’ to all the questions.

Q1.  Will you commit to meaningful climate action for the Macquarie electorate through:

  1. A stronger 2030 national emission reduction target than the current target (see candidates’ full responses for specific targets and plans to reach those targets)
  2. Financial support to transition Macquarie electorate communities from gas to renewable energy (see candidates’ full responses for specific plans for Macquarie and nationally)
  3. Supporting the urgent development of climate action policies (see candidates’ full responses for specific policies)
All candidates who responded supported issues such as a commitment to meaningful climate action for the Macquarie electorate through a stronger 2030 national emission reduction target than the current target, financial support to transition Macquarie electorate communities from gas to renewable energy as well as supporting the urgent development of climate action policies.

Here's the candidates' full response.

Q2.  Will you advocate for the refusal of Commonwealth approval of raising the Warragamba Dam wall?

Greg Keightley (Animal Justice Party) and Tony Hickey (The Greens) both answered ‘yes’ to this question.

Here's the candidates' full response.

Q3.  Will you actively support the extension of the existing GBMWHA to include all additions to the national parks and reserves since the listing of the GBMWHA in 2000?

All three candidates answered ‘yes’ to this question.   Here's the candidates' full response.

Q4.  Will you actively support the nomination of additional values including cultural, scenic and geomorphological for the GBMWHA?

All three candidates answered ‘yes’ to this question.   Here's the candidates' full response.

Q5.  Would you initiate a process to ban low-flying non-essential helicopter flights (e.g. joy and recreational flights) over wilderness areas in the GBMWHA?

All three candidates answered ‘yes’ to this question.   Here's the candidates' full response.

Q6.  Will you actively and publicly advocate for adequate funding for research to establish baseline data on health and status of the GBMWHA Eucalypts in order to establish a creditable monitoring regime for these eucalypts and the effect of climate change on them?

All three candidates answered ‘yes’ to this question.   Here's the candidates' full response.

Q7.  Will you advocate for an active federal role in legislated environmental protection and, in particular, for retaining the federal Minister’s independent approval role under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act)?

Greg Keightley (Animal Justice Party) and Tony Hickey (The Greens) supported strong environmental protection in federal legislation but declined to give unqualified support for federal oversight and, in particular, for the Minister’s role. The next federal government will play a critical role in determining the proposal to raise the Warragamba Dam wall.

Greg Keightley (Animal Justice Party) answered ‘yes’ but had strong criticisms of the current operation of the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act), citing the failings of the environmental assessment process identified in the National Audit Office’s review of the EPBC Act. The implementation of the review’s recommendations would be the condition for his support for federal government oversight of applications under the EPBC Act. Keightley is also concerned about the Morrison government's proposed devolution of environmental assessments to the states.

Tony Hickey (The Greens) also answered ‘yes’ to this question and cited The Greens’ plan to strengthen the EPBC Act, though The Greens propose to create an independent watchdog to ensure compliance rather than rely on the federal minister to oversee environmental protection.

Q8.  Will you actively work towards the introduction of the following four measures to reduce corporate influence and restore balance to politics?

  1. Limit the size of donations to political parties and politicians.

    Greg Keightley (Animal Justice Party) and Tony Hickey (The Greens) both support limiting the size of donations to political parties and politicians. Both support a ban on donations from either all companies or organisations (Keightley) or from for-profit organisations (Hickey).

  2. Real time disclosure of all political donations

    All three candidates support real time disclosure of political donations. Susan Templeman cited Labor’s introduction of a private Senator’s bill to implement a real time disclosure regime in the 46th parliament.

  3. Limit the amount individuals or an organisation can spend on election campaigns

    All three candidates answered ‘yes’ to this question.

  4. Create a federal Integrity Commission with powers to investigate allegations of corruption and ensure accountability

    Susan Templeman cited Labor’s policy to establish a National Anti-Corruption Commission.

    Greg Keightley (Animal Justice Party) and Tony Hickey (The Greens) both answered ‘yes’ to this question.

Q9.  Western Sydney Airport

  1. Will you commit to a comprehensive and genuine community consultation for the proposed flight paths for the Western Sydney Airport?

    All three candidates indicated their support for comprehensive and genuine consultation on the proposed flight paths.

  2. Will you commit to including the option of a curfew as part of the flight path community consultation process?

    Greg Keightley (Animal Justice Party) and Tony Hickey (The Greens) both answered ‘yes’ to this question.




Authorised by Madi Maclean, Blue Mountains Conservation Society Inc, 92 Fletcher St., Wentworth Falls NSW 2782

© 2022  Blue Mountains Conservation Society Inc.
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land
– the Darug and Gundungurra people –
and pay respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.