Sky News Host PANICS During Climate Activist Interview

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Well, New South Wales police have arrested 170 climate activists who blockaded one of the world's largest coal ports in Newcastle. Joining me now is one of the protesters from Rising Tide, Zach Schofield. Zach, thanks so much for your time. What is the intention with all of this? What are you actually trying to achieve? So thank you for having me here. And look, [00:00:22] Zach Schofield: I want to get a message across loud and clear. We are not trying to shut down the industry overnight. Yeah, we've demanded an end to new coal and gas expansions because we are in a climate crisis, right? And the government was elected on a climate mandate. And there's a very simple fix here, which is to stop expanding an industry which contributes to climate breakdown. But beyond that, I'm a Newcastle boy, right? You know, the Hunter region is a really important place in the New South Wales economy. It contributes a lot. But the coal corporations, these multinational corporations like Glencore don't get taxed appropriately. So we're also calling for a 78% tax on coal exports. [00:01:02] Speaker 1: But blockading this, Jack, you've got to understand that that puts jobs at risk. And what about the cost of living crisis where, you know, older Australians in particular can't afford to put their heaters on at night? They're, you know, turning lights off, doing that kind of thing. I mean, what's the priority? [00:01:21] Zach Schofield: I totally understand. We are in a cost of living crisis. And it's everyday Australians who are bearing the brunt, not the multinational corporations who get away with, you know, coal royalties in New South Wales average 8 to 12%. That's far less than all of your listeners are paying on their income tax. [00:01:37] Speaker 1: Sure, but you understand it does fund the budget. It does go into, it's not hypothecated spending. [00:01:42] Zach Schofield: It could fund the budget much, much more, right? Norway taxes its oil exports at 78%. That goes into a sovereign wealth fund that's worth over $2 trillion Australian dollars. They fund all of their social programs off it. So when people are doing it tough at home, we need to understand there are multinational corporations that are getting away scot-free. [00:02:01] Speaker 1: Well, Zach, do you understand that this blockade at the weekend, it really divides people? Because not only did people need to be rescued. And I know publicity is part of the aim here, but it seems counterproductive. You're getting a lot of people offside for a goal. You said you want these multinationals to pay more tax and no coal and gas. Some of this is a little bit hypocritical. [00:02:28] Zach Schofield: I don't believe so at all. And I think most folks, well, apparently, you know, not everyone. And I understand there may be listeners who are getting offside because of our actions, but we do live in a democracy, right? Protest is an important part of that. But at the end of the day, you know, people were being safe on the water. People who, police are claiming that they had to rescue folks. Well, they actually, police, I watched police rip kayak paddles away from kayakers and then tow them to shore under the pretense that they, you know, couldn't control their own vessels. So let's be very careful about trusting the word of the government and the police just at face value. They lie all the time. You know, governments don't follow on their word. Who's lying? That's actually why we're protesting. Well, governments, you know, our government was elected on a climate mandate and they've approved 20 out new coal and gas projects. They've also said that they'll fund transition, but the Hunter region gets back less than 2% of the coal royalties that we create in our own communities to fund transition. [00:03:25] Speaker 1: I mean, these resources belong to all Australians. You do understand that telling people, you're essentially saying to people without any new coal and gas that they're going to have to pay maybe double or triple on their electricity bill just to support your cause. [00:03:43] Zach Schofield: Not at all. Solar and wind power are far cheaper. No, it's not. It's actually not. Not right now, it's not. Well, it will very much will be. You know, China has rapidly decarbonizing, right? Korea, Japan, these are our main export trading partners and they are rapidly choosing to move to domestic energy production through renewables or domestic coal production. They are. And so the port of Newcastle actually says that the coal export market could collapse within the next 10 years. So what do we tell Hunter workers? What do we tell people in Singleton and Musselbrook when their own port says that the export industry will collapse in 10 years? Are we going to fund those communities to transition to alternate industries? I think we should. Do you? [00:04:28] Speaker 1: It's hard to know where to start with that answer for a start because I don't want to buy into some mistruths. And look, it's not just by you. It's by members of the government as well who keep on repeating this line that renewables are cheaper. They're just not at the moment. And they might not be for many decades. [00:04:45] Zach Schofield: I think the coal and gas industry have bought out a lot of politicians and there's a lot of interest. There's a lot of money in these really powerful energy companies. Bought out politicians? Who? There's a lot of interest in these powerful energy companies. [00:04:56] Speaker 1: Who have they bought? I mean, that's a big claim, Zach. [00:04:58] Zach Schofield: We've seen, well, they fund, they pay millions and millions of dollars in donations. We've seen our, we've seen politicians go into cushy energy corporation jobs. [00:05:09] Speaker 1: The Greens are the ones that accept these enormous donations as well. [00:05:13] Zach Schofield: No, they don't. No, they don't. They don't fund, they don't accept any corporate donations. That's on their policy website. You can see exactly who donates to them. So no, no, no. Let me just make it very clear. The coal and gas corporations are one of the most powerful business interests in the country. They do not care about workers. They do not care about communities. They care about their own profits. Well, they're one of the biggest employers as well. [00:05:34] Speaker 1: They're one of the biggest employers and they're a massive contributor to our federal budget and our well-being. No, no, no. Okay. If they stop doing business tomorrow, Zach, if they stop doing business and you got your wish, what do you think would happen to the lights? What do you think would happen to the industry? What do you think would happen to our quality of life? Sure. You've mischaracterized me [00:05:54] Zach Schofield: because I've explicitly said the first thing I said when I came on here was that we don't want to shut down the industry overnight. And I think it's a real shame that folks choose to lie about our intentions to undermine us. I've explicitly said we want an end to new projects. But by blockading what you did on [00:06:10] Speaker 1: the weekend, it wasn't supported by police. There's been 170 arrests. So if it's not in, if your intention is to not shut down the coal and gas industry overnight, what are you doing? I mean, [00:06:22] Zach Schofield: because you're putting jobs at risk. No, we're not putting jobs at risk. In fact, we are advocating for a tax on the corporations to fund jobs. But what about this coal that goes to [00:06:32] Speaker 1: places like India who need that for the poorest people in India? So our major trading partners are China, [00:06:40] Zach Schofield: Korea and Japan. They are industrialized nations that are rapidly choosing to... China's still, you know, [00:06:45] Speaker 1: got a rapidly growing middle class pulling people out of poverty. Sure, absolutely. And they have [00:06:50] Zach Schofield: a massive manufacturing industry. Do you know, your listeners might be interested to know that in the last year, China created over six times as much in energy generation capacity in solar power alone China is still burning 56% of the world's coal. How do you reconcile that? It's also the world's largest country. They are rapidly industrializing and they choose to focus on domestic energy production as any sovereign nation should. Now, we are in a situation where our export market is based on, you know, relies on the domestic policy of China, Japan, Korea. What happens when they choose to stop buying our coal? [00:07:32] Speaker 1: No, we rely on it as well. We still rely on coal right now. About 60% burning every day. [00:07:38] Zach Schofield: Yeah, and that's going to be changing. The port of Newcastle itself, the world's largest coal port, says that the coal export market will decline in the next 10 years. What happens to our communities [00:07:50] Speaker 1: when that happens? State governments are still, they need to prop it up because renewables aren't [00:07:54] Zach Schofield: aren't quite ready. Well, we need to invest in renewables. I think your protest is a little premature at best. No, I don't think it is. And I think you understand as well as all of your listeners understand that we need to actively invest in the industries of the future. If we're not, then we are setting ourselves up for failure. Why wouldn't we want to invest in emerging energy production when that is the future that the world is heading to? That is happening. It's all about the [00:08:18] Speaker 1: balance. But look, Zach, I really appreciate your time. Yeah, I really appreciate your time. [00:08:23] Zach Schofield: Thanks so much for coming on. Thank you for having me. Always a pleasure.