Three years on from South East QLD floods, Queenslanders deserve climate action

The Queensland Conservation Council will today amplify calls for stronger climate action while commemorating the anniversary of the 2022 floods that inundated Southeast Queensland and Northern New South Wales.

At least 23 people died, and more than 20,000 Queensland homes and businesses were flooded, in the second '1 in 100 year' flooding event in 11 years. Three years on, we are on the cusp of an election where the Federal opposition is pushing a plan to keep us reliant on polluting coal-fired power stations at least for another 20 years, and neither the Australian Government nor the federal opposition has a plan to adequately reduce climate pollution or make communities more resilient to further extreme weather events.

Today at 3:30 PM, community members will gather at Regatta Wharf (543 Coronation Drive) for a roadside action to mark the anniversary of the devastating 2022 floods. The event serves as a stark reminder of the growing threat of climate-fuelled disasters and the urgent need for all parties and candidates to commit to reducing emission in order to protect communities from climate impacts.

Queensland Conservation Council’s Urban Sustainability and Organising Lead, Jen Basham, said

Today we remember those who lost their lives and homes to the climate crisis in 2022. Every year, we add to an ever-growing body of evidence that a lack of climate action costs our economy, it costs our communities, and it costs lives. Unfortunately, more lives were lost and communities devastated this year in North Queensland.

In 2022, many of us presumed the devastation of those floods would send shockwaves through all levels of government, and force decisive climate policy. And yet, three years on, Australia remains one of the world’s highest polluters per capita, with fossil fuel exports contributing three times as much to global warming as our domestic emissions.

What’s worse, the Federal Coalition’s nuclear scheme is nothing but a plan to keep Australia reliant on polluting coal and gas.

We can’t keep letting our communities pay the price for climate change, while the multinational fossil fuel corporations get off scot free, and even get public money to pollute.

We are here today to look back on the devastation of the 2022 floods, and look forward to this year's federal election, and our future. We urge all parties and candidates to commit to reducing emissions, building new, green industries, holding polluters accountable, and protecting communities from climate impacts.

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