Last month, Sweltering Cities’ Executive Director, Emma, Victoria Campaigner, Sophie, and Western Sydney Campaigner, Sanaa, went to Canberra as part of the Climate Impacted Communities delegation. We were also joined by our friends at Climate Writers, Marlene and Grisha, and a range of climate organisations to demonstrate the community support behind ambitious climate action.
We met with MPs and Senators and their teams at Parliament House, including Mehreen Faruqi, Ed Husic, David Pocock, Chris Bowen, and Max Chandler-Mather, to talk about creating cooler and safer cities across Australia. We presented the main findings from our Summer Survey, emphasising to our policymakers how cost of living pressures were making it increasingly difficult to navigate heatwaves, particularly for people with chronic illness and disability, and for renters living in poorly built, uninsulated homes.
We also discussed our asks from our recent campaigns, such as updated planning regulations to build cooler suburbs and increased funding for bus stop infrastructure, to propose clear policy recommendations that politicians can take to help protect communities most affected by extreme heat. Beyond our campaigns, we joined a coalition of climate organisations to launch ‘Renew Australia For All’– a policy framework that calls for clean energy investment that is powered by communities.
Our visit to Parliament was incredibly powerful. We connected with like-minded climate advocates and emphasised to our politicians how a climate safe future for Australia must mobilise frontline communities. Thank you to everyone who has supported our campaigns, from taking part in our survey, installing a temperature monitor, to sharing a busted bus stop picture. Let’s continue to collaborate, advocate, and lobby for sustainable and heat-resilient cities for everyone.