Arena with Doshanthri - Hon David Speirs-Leader-Opposition - Leader South Australian Liberal Party

[Music] ch [Music] [Music] [Music] CH choc choc choc choc chocolate chocolate [Applause] chocolate arov dantry dantry good evening chakra FM listeners you're listening to arena with thantry you all know we have been discussing about global risks 2034 the report published by World economic Forum that report focuses on the longer term Horizon highlighting risks that may become most severe over the next decade while the short-term risks landscape described in the report if not addressed contribute to this negative longterm outcomes attention planning and action today can still set us on a markedly more positive trajectory to discuss about this we have one of the best persons in the world to discuss this matter with there are many politicians in the world but there are few leaders so this is one of the leaders in South Australia and Australia and he's none other than the opposition leader David Spears honorable David Spears minister of parliament is not only the leader of opposition he is the shadow Minister for environment as well and he used to be the minister of environment as well in the past so he is the best person to talk about because he's not only a politician he's a leader and he's a true lover of environment and he has taken many many steps to protect our en environment and preserve it so honorable David Spears minister of parliament leader of the opposition we warmly welcome you to arena with the [Music] chant arena with dantry dantry good evening honorable Mr davidp good evening D chanre it's so good to be on Arena this evening uh and as you say we're talking about a really important issue and that's our precious natural environment it's something I'm really passionate about I'm so grateful for you for giving me the opportunity to speak to your listeners this evening honorable David SP minister of Parliament and opposition leader in South Australia I would like to ask the first question when we read the report about the world risks Global risks from World economic Forum it actually is pretty scary the next decade will usher in a period of signific ific change stretching our adaptive capacity to the limit so environment has the most significant Global risk for the next decade nearly all environmental risks are included in the Top 10 rankings for the decade ahead so extreme weather events are anticipated to become even more severe as the top ranked risks over the next decade so as Shadow Minister for environment in South Australia and former environmental Minister and an opposition leader I would like to ask from you honorable David Spears how do you see the next 10 years of our globe with when you compare to what's going to happen to environment what are your thoughts I would like to know that first well do anrey the problems and the issues that are highlighted in this report are extremely concerning but I suppose there are no real surprises there because unfortunately these issues have been on the horizon for for many decades uh overpopulation uh growing cities pushing into uh precious natural environments uh the clearance of land for uh mining industry uh pollution in our rivers in our seas and our oceans uh we know that these problems have been there uh for many many years and we have been uh aware of these but what we now need to do is come up with Solutions uh let us see the world economic forum's report which has recently been released as an opportunity uh to to drive us towards action uh and we do see examples of action uh right across the world so we we shouldn't give up hope uh we should look for opportunities to make change uh look at the movement that is occurring around single use Plastics and reducing the amount of uh of rubbish in our in our oceans you know that is something that has really gathered Pace in recent years H and as South Australia's environment Minister we were the first jurisdiction in Australia to ban a whole range of single use Plastics back in 2020 but we're not the only place in the world to do that uh those bans have been spreading right across uh the globe and I want to see more countries more States more provinces and more jurisdictions across the world do that and and I just give that as one example uh another area that that uh we're seeing a lot of progress and momentum in is around climate change and uh the significant reductions that are happening in certainly in Western countries around uh Global emissions uh but there remain concerns in the developing world uh that uh the emissions continue to grow uh so we do need to get a handling that one of the areas that worries me the most is biodiversity decline as much as being a climate crisis we're in a a biodiversity crisis with so many species of animal and plant uh start Fading Into Extinction uh this is an issue that I don't think we've got a real handle on going forward and uh you know we want to see species that are present today there for our grandchildren to enjoy and something that keeps me awake at night is the the idea that magnificent creatures such as elephants and lions and tigers might a thing of myth in the future like we look back in the dinosaurs today so the report's right to highlight these challenges uh but we've got to H use that as a go to action for [Music] solutionsand dantry on behalf of chakra fness from arena with the shantry I would like to thank you for that nice explanation on Minister David Spears now I would like to know as Australia as South Australia how have have you prepared how have you been preparing for the next decade what are the precautions and and how do you see the next 10 years for Australia for South Australia well deantre the challenge really for Australia and South Australia is to reverse Decline and make sure that we're showing International Leadership with this sort of stuff because we can be a beacon for other nations when it comes uh to being able to guide the way forward with real sustainability and real solution look our responses around renewable energy is is really good in South Australia and and Australia and I would like us to be able to uh look at other solutions that can be modeled by other nations and jurisdictions around the world I want us to be looking at nuclear energy in in South Australia uh the cleanest form of energy in my view that can be uh be I guess can provide baseload energy which in turn uh is emissions free uh so that's an area I think we need to be looking at we need to be looking at halting biodiversity decline looking at rewilding the natural world making sure uh that we are looking after our national parks and expanding them and that's something when I was environment Minister I looked at uh time and time again how can we Rew areas reintroduce native species work with zoos and um animals uh animal Charities conservation Charities uh to H get insurance populations of these species and then reintroduce them into uh safe environments we need to be removing pest species from the landscape unfortunately Australia has too many pests in the Landscapes foxes camels goats cats uh there's just a handful of things that cause huge damage to our natural world and eat native species so we really need to get a handle on the feral pests across the landscape as well and of course one issue that I mentioned just a moment ago uh was the single use Plastics we're doing well there but we need to look at ways to minimize plastic use uh to create a truly circular economy so we can reuse materials again and again and again so there's some challenges facing Australia but also things that I think we have the prospect of doing well with a renov it dantry dantry arena with dantry [Music] dantry arena with dantry dantry thanks David it is good to see that Australia is preparing for the next decade and especially South Australia is preparing for the next decade so lastly I would like to ask from you um you know when you compare to World economic forum it's it's really scary what they're saying about the environment and and uh little while ago you explained as well so with this critical change to Earth Systems in the next decade do you think that we have hoped to overcome this somehow is there any Miracle going to happen or is it us that you know should be working towards a miracle well dantri I think there is hope I think there has to be hope because if there's no hope what's the point we just give up uh we'd continue to trash the environment we wouldn't appreciate it we need to teach people to love our natural environment because when they love it they'll fight to protect it when it's at most at risk this sort of thing starts locally so we can see the problems is really significant really overwhelming really worrying uh insurmountable but if we start locally and look at our own lives and think what can we do in our own backyard that's where hope really begins one one example is just taking part in a a local Beach cleanup for instance there's a there's a movement called Tes take three for the sea and when you go down the beach and you see two or three bits of lter pick them up and put them on the bin in the way home uh you know that's just one way that someone can make a big difference because if everyone does that our beaches would be clean our oceans would have less plastic in them and our Wildlife would have less uh challenges to face so that's just one example but that's what I want your listeners to think about today how can they manifest Hope by small actions in their lives that'll make a big difference for our preal precious natural environment because that's how we will make sure that the challenges we Face throughout the next decade are not insurmountable thank you so much for your time honorable David spe minister of parliament leader of the opposition Shadow Minister for environment and former Minister for environment in South Australia we thank you so much for your precious time that you spent with us with arena with tantry thank you so much thanks so much for having me today D chanre I hope that your listeners have enjoyed this little chat between us H and hopefully uh they've been inspired to make a little bit of change in their lives that will help our precious environment AR dantry dantry