The West Australian government has scrapped a scheme which would have enforced the protection of mature trees in some Perth suburbs. In what's described as a "watershed moment" the Nedlands and south Perth councils last year voted to approve rules which would require landowners to apply for permission to clear trees taller than 8 metres.
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TVTranscript
00:00 It's hard to believe, but we don't have any tree protections on private land like what
00:06 you have in Sydney and Adelaide and places like that.
00:10 So here in Perth, we are rapidly losing our tree canopy and it is stinking hot.
00:17 It is 41 degrees here at the moment and we have no protections for trees.
00:23 And that is something that we have tried very hard to do.
00:26 And we have been knocked back by the state government.
00:28 Yes, so take us into a bit more detail on the plan that you put forward.
00:33 So this was three years in the making.
00:35 I came in on this as a mayor.
00:38 I'm the mayor of the city of Netherlands, which is the ninth most affluent city in Australia.
00:44 And we came from a mindset of private property rights.
00:49 And we managed to shift the council to be one of obligations to look after our land
00:56 and community.
00:58 So we took it to council a number of times.
01:00 We got approval from council.
01:03 We had 91% of our community behind this.
01:08 We took it to the West Australian Planning Commission and they were also supportive of
01:14 this.
01:15 And they looked at Netherlands as a blueprint to roll this out to all councils, possibly
01:20 in metropolitan Perth.
01:22 And just take us into a bit of a detail about what were some of the rules in the plan so
01:26 people understand what it was.
01:28 Sure.
01:29 Look, there were very light protections because we don't have any protections.
01:33 So we started off with a really low bar.
01:36 Essentially, we wanted to stop people from wholesale clearing the blocks.
01:42 And it was zoned R20 and below.
01:45 So what happens is people clear the blocks completely, they moonscape these areas, we're
01:51 in a good class bungalow area, and then they come and lodge a DA.
01:55 So we wanted tree removal to be part of the development application.
02:01 Very simple measures.
02:03 And we went out to the community and surveyed them.
02:06 We collated so much data and research like an encyclopedia.
02:11 We did this very slowly and it was extremely measured.
02:15 And it was on the state government's desk for six months.
02:18 We couldn't get a result from them.
02:21 They have an 89% majority.
02:24 And ABC discovered the story today.
02:28 And so what do you make of the state government's response?
02:31 I think it's appalling.
02:33 I think we're not doing enough to mitigate climate change.
02:38 And you know, our communities, our economy, our environment is at risk.
02:43 But the state government is saying it's in the process of developing a broader plan.
02:48 Yes.
02:49 But we're facing a climate emergency.
02:51 So you need to throw everything at it.
02:54 We have about seven years before we reach 1.5 degrees.
02:58 And we are dealing with the hottest year last year in the history of mankind.
03:03 And you know, you can see temperatures at 49 and 50 degrees.
03:07 And that is just the beginning.
03:08 This is going to be the coolest summer we have experienced in our lifetimes right now.
03:15 So we need some simple measures right now to protect our community.
03:21 We don't need the talk.
03:22 We need the action.
03:24 And do you have any confidence that measures like you include in your plan will be included
03:31 in this broader state government plan that's being developed or not?
03:36 I think this is politics.
03:39 And I think we're dealing with a climate emergency.
03:41 And we need to throw absolutely everything at it.
03:44 It's not about promoting your career.
03:46 It's about looking after the citizens of Perth and Australia.
03:52 And I notice that there's a bit of to and fro between the state government and yourself
03:56 about the degree of support you had for your plan.
04:00 No doubt you've seen those comments today.
04:02 What do you make of that?
04:04 I think that we're facing the biggest collective action problem in the history of mankind.
04:09 And we have to mitigate climate change.
04:12 And we have to be educated.
04:13 And we have to move.
04:14 And we can't have any politician in this country that is talking and not taking action.
04:20 This is really serious business.
04:22 And we need help and support.
04:25 And can you take this any further now?
04:26 Well, I'll be dealing with all the mayors in Western Australia, all the mayors around
04:31 Australia, all the mayors around the world that are taking action on climate change and
04:36 all the other councils.
04:37 And we will continue.
04:38 We're warming up.
04:39 We're just warming up, just like the planet.
04:41 [BLANK_AUDIO]