Labor Environment Action Network

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Labor Environment Action Network is is the largest non-factional body inside Labor.

We are made up of and enable the grassroots of our party to raise their voice on environmental issues. Our advocacy often involves holding events, visiting branches, talking to MPs, making submissions to reviews and inquiries, as well as writing policy. For example, in 2018 our proposals to strengthen Australia’s environmental laws and set up an independent EPA were adopted at national conference. This followed a campaign which passed motions in over 500 branches. LEAN continues to grow with increasing numbers of Local LEAN groups within each state and territory branch.[1]

Influence

Federal Labor’s 50 per cent ­renewable target was forced on to the party’s policy agenda by a hardcore environment offshoot against strong objections from the party’s traditional union base.

The target was hatched in a room above a pub in central ­Melbourne in late 2014 by a self-declared “scraggly bunch” of ­environmentalists operating within the party.

A re-energised Labor Environment Action Network went on to mount an aggressive grassroots campaign across the ALP branch network that conquered party heavyweights despite strong objections from the CFMEU.

Bill Shorten adopted LEAN’s 50 per cent renewables target by 2030 shortly before the ALP’s ­national conference last year, ­admitting he had no idea how the party would get there.

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg October 9 2016, accused the ­Opposition Leader in parliament of a “reckless pursuit” of an “ideological approach” to the target without thinking through the consequences.

Citing a Bloomberg New ­Energy Finance Report, Mr Frydenberg warned the Labor policy would cost $48 billion and took aim at Mr Shorten for refusing to explain how to achieve the 50 per cent target until October next year. “We are told that will ­require 10,000 turbines. Where are they going to be built?” Mr Frydenberg said. “If you had a $48bn program, you’d expect you’d have a bit of detail to show.”

In response, Labor sought to pressure Malcolm Turnbull over his plans to support renewable energy projects beyond 2020, with opposition energy spokesman Mark Butler saying the government had no policy and was wedded to coal as Australia’s “only energy future”.

LEAN organiser Felicity Wade said yesterday the statewide electricity blackout in South Australia had pushed debate past renewable energy targets to the need for greater market intervention. “Of course there is a huge debate in South Australia,” Ms Wade said.

“Targets are all very well but that is not where the debate is at. We need to reform the national electricity market and start a discussion on whether we can expect the market to do it.”

Ms Wade said senior figures in the ALP had warned her that if she cared about climate change she should back off and leave the issue until Labor was back in government.

She said the 50 per cent renewables policy was developed by a “scraggly bunch” who believed Labor needed to make climate change a conviction issue, not a tactical one.

For policy, the group took its lead from an international report by ClimateWorks, which set out a road map for decarbonisation and identified ways to get to net zero emissions by 2050.

“It was a light-bulb moment because here was a piece-by-piece plan,” Ms Wade said.

“That report had 50 per cent renewables by 2030 to net zero by 2050. We stole that target, which at the time was regarded as huge.”

Ms Wade said that while the climate change response was being set up as an environmental agenda it crossed into key Labor concerns of jobs, growth and ­security. She said there had been a “lack of recognition in the party” that “if we retool the energy sector there are major ideological ­issues”.

“When we designed the last energy system it was done by the state and planned,” she said.

“With South Australia we can see how hard it is to redesign the system using market incentives. Labor should be having these discussions. Are we going to import every last bit of plant or are we going to be active in saying we could have a piece of that?

“I am not saying go back to 1950s protectionism but there are huge public policy issues.

“It is in the ALP’s interest to have future-facing policies and natural heritage considerations in deciding the energy transition.”

LEAN started its renewables push with a simple PowerPoint presentation, a voiceover and brochure, and hit the road to ­explain it branch to branch. By the time it got to the ALP national conference, LEAN had 370 branches supporting the target.

“We had a clear mandate from members,” Ms Wade said. “But weeks out from the conference the CFMEU wrote to the ALP leadership saying they did not like the policy. We thought it was ­derailed but we held our ground.’’

The target was accepted as ALP policy and taken to the federal election. It has since been adopted by the Queensland Labor government. Mr Shorten has described the target as an ­ambition. “There’s a long way to go in terms of working through all the issues and details,” Mr Shorten said last year.

In the party’s Climate Change Action Plan during the election campaign, Mr Shorten said Labor would “announce the proposed design details by 1 October 2017 with legislation for post-2020 ­arrangements to be introduced to parliament in late 2017”.[2]

2016 NSW Labor State Conference Fringe Events

The 2016 NSW Labor State Conference Fringe Events Program was the biggest yet. Our Fringe Program saw events hosted by many different politicians, action networks and other domestic and international political figures. Over 800 Labor members, delegates and observers, participated in the Fringe Events Program.
NSW LEAN: How to effectively communicate about climate change Tony Burke MP, Penny Sharpe MLC, and Felicity Wade discussed the proud history of environmental reform in the Labor Party and how LEAN’s recent campaign became ALP policy.[3]

Attack on LEAN

Joel Fitzgibbon has accused Labor’s influential internal environment lobby of putting blue-collar jobs and lower energy prices at risk —– and warned them against exaggerating the number of jobs in the renewable energy sector — as the party’s split over climate and energy policy grows.

The opposition resources and agriculture spokesman said the Labor Environment Action Network’s “fundamentalist” policies were out of step with ALP values and making the party unelectable, according to leaked emails obtained by The Australian. LEAN, which invited Mr Fitzgibbon to a Wednesday forum, was founded by Labor’s home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally and opposition cabinet secretary Jenny McAllister to push the party into stronger climate change action.

“LEAN also needs to be cautious about overstating the number of job opportunities provided by capital-intensive and import-dependent renewable projects in the short to medium run,” he wrote in the Saturday email.

The forum, a town hall event held by LEAN’s Hunter branch, will hear from NSW Labor environment spokeswoman Kate Washington, Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union state secretary Steve Murphy, Grattan Institute energy director Tony Wood and Beyond Zero Emissions researcher Dominique Hes.

Mr Fitzgibbon said, given the impact of COVID-19, Labor should be focused on “building on the strengths of those industries which have performed well during the crisis. They provide the best opportunity to deliver outcomes quickly. Immediate job creation cannot be achieved with a fixation on concepts like “green steel” which are decades away,” he wrote.

Mr Fitzgibbon told LEAN he would not participate in the group’s “Jobs & Steel: the Hunter’s Renewable Future” forum on Wednesday because it had “already made its position” clear on key environmental policy issues.

In the email, Mr Fitzgibbon criticised LEAN over its pre-emptive positions on environmental policies, including the Narrabri gas project and EPBC review.

“I note LEAN has accused others of pre-empting the final EPBC review report, but is guilty of doing exactly that itself,” he said.

“I also note LEAN has passed judgment on the Narrabri gas project before the IPC has completed processes and scientific analysis. This pre-emptive attack on a project which will deliver many blue-collar jobs and lower energy prices for households and industry is contrary to ideals on which Labor was formed.”

Mr Fitzgibbon is backed by Australian Workers Union national secretary Dan Walton, who said policy positions advocated by LEAN would be “devastating for the livelihoods of blue collar workers”.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese, under pressure from Left colleagues to not abandon the ALP’s ambitious climate change policies, earlier this year committed to a net zero emissions target by 2050 but is yet to commit to a medium-term target.

In February, Mr Albanese said Australia should be a “clean energy superpower harnessing the wind and sun to spark a new manufacturing boom”.

Mr Walton said while “green steel” was an exciting proposition, the technology remained “a way off.” “Even its most enthusiastic proponent, Sanjeev Gupta, will tell you the technology is a way off and accessible, affordable natural gas is necessary in the immediate term if we are to maintain an Australian steel industry,’’ he said.[4]

Meeting with Albanese

Anthony Albanese May 6, 2018. Sydney, NSW, Australia ·

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Great night at Balmain Town Hall with local residents, Mark Butler MP and LEAN NSW - Labor Environment Action Network discussing the future of climate change, energy and the environment in Australia.[5]

"Albo on LEAN"

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LEAN Australia - Labor Environment Action Network July 29, 2020.

Albo and other MPs this afternoon came out in defence of LEAN and Labor’s commitment to the environment, saying “the resources spokesman’s criticisms of the party’s environmental wing are “conspiracy theories” and “just wrong”.” Thanks to the parliamentary party for defending the efforts of rank and file Labor people who care for equality and a safe planet.

"Amid internal divisions on environmental policy, the Opposition Leader dismissed Mr Fitzgibbon’s concerns that the “fundamentalist” positions of the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN) were a barrier to the party’s electoral success.

“It’s just wrong. LEAN is made up of people who are committed to environmental action,” Mr Albanese said in Sydney on Wednesday. “The Labor Party is the party that should be very proud and are proud of everything from the Daintree being saved, the Franklin being saved, the concern around climate change, concern around the Great Barrier Reef, the concern around Kakadu National Park.”"

LEAN on "Albo"

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LEAN Australia - Labor Environment Action Network

LEAN's response to Albo's speech today on building bi-partisan pathways on climate action:

"Felicity Wade, national co-convenor of the Labor Environment Action Network, tells The Monthly Today that Albanese is trying to progress action on climate change by negotiating towards some form of mechanism in the electricity sector that provides investment certainty as well as emissions reduction. “Albo is saying, ‘Let’s sort out that mechanism and we can ramp it up when we’re in government.’ He has said nothing to suggest Labor won’t have its own interim targets, and LEAN will work hard to ensure they are ambitious,” says Wade.

“We have all got less purist about climate policy over the years. What we most need is a workable mechanism – policy elegance was ditched on this years ago! Getting a bipartisan emissions reduction mechanism in place would be a huge positive step in Australian climate politics. Today Albo has endorsed a whole bunch of things LEAN supports: initiatives to invest heavily into the renewable energy sector, restoring ARENA funding, banning nuclear power and having an ability to scale up our emission reduction targets when we can. We’re not huge fans of wasting taxpayer funds on carbon capture and storage but it’s not a ‘die in a ditch’ issue.” "

Patrons

In 2014 LEAN formally affiliated with the party as a Labor Action Committee of the NSW Branch. As an affiliated group with an expanded membership LEAN has significantly increased campaign output and activities, including leading the ‘50/50’ campaign to strengthen Labor’s climate action targets ahead of the 2015 National Conference. NSW LEAN’s patrons are The Hon Luke Foley MP, Leader of the NSW Opposition; and The Hon Tony Burke MP, Shadow Federal Minister for Finance and Manager of Opposition Business.

Contact Declan Clausen or David Mason,

Declan Clausen Convenor, NSW LEAN, Nic Nelson, State Organiser, NSW LEAN.[6]

Local contacts

Tasmania secretary Martin Summers

New South Wales To get more involved please contact Jaden Harris, NSW Convenor jaden@lean.net.au. Tim Lang and Penny Pederson are the NSW Organisers.

LEAN also has active local branches in Sydney's Inner West, Newcastle, Blue Mountains, North Coast, Central Coast, Sutherland Shire, Far South Coast and South Coast (around Jervis Bay). Be in touch with NSW LEAN to get contacts in your local area.

LEAN Far South Coast Frances Perkins

LEAN Western Sydney Caroline Staples

LEAN Kiama TBC

LEAN Hunter Tim Lang

LEAN Inner West Frank Breen

LEAN Shire South Maryanne Stuart

LEAN Central Coast Joy Cooper

Victoria Nick Withers, Co-convenor

LEAN Gippsland Wendy Castles

LEAN Mornington Peninsula Kerry Macdonald

LEAN Bendigo and Goldfields Nick Withers

Western Australia Andrei

Queensland please contact Peter Casey, Secretary Queensland: qld@lean.net.au.

LEAN in Queensland has a variety of local groups including in Townsville, Darling Downs, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Bundaberg and more.

Here are their contact details:

LEAN FNQ (Cairns) Ann Kreger

LEAN Gold Coast Josh Lyons

LEAN Darling Downs Gillian Pechey

LEAN Sunshine Coast & Wide Bay Thomas Whitton LEAN Townsville David Cassells

LEAN Bundaberg and Coral Coast Michael Johnson

Australian Capital Territory Nina Heymanson and Sally Somi are co-conveners for LEAN Australian Capital Region.[7]

Leadership

STATE/TERRITORY/LOCAL branches

Leaders

New South Wales

Queensland

South Australia

Tasmania

Western Australia

CRUNCH TIME

CRUNCH TIME conference.

Day One – Wednesday 22nd April 2009.

Reality and policy on climate change

References

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  3. ↑ https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/nswlabor/mailings/1244/attachments/original/Conferences_Report_2016_web.pdf?1457679297]
  4. ↑ [3]
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