I'd like to start by acknowledging the Wajak Noongar people as the traditional custodians of the land that we're on today, here on the edge of the Durble Yuran, and I feel very grateful to be on this land and talking about this topic. I pay my respects to Wajak Elders past and present. Thank you very much for coming on what is no less than an apocalyptic day weather-wise. This is the seventh day over 40 this month, which has blown all the records out of the water. We were going to be on the grass down here, but I unfortunately have been in the last three weeks, three times someone has collapsed at an event during the features, and I thought no, we can't have that; we need chairs and we need to be inside, but very much appreciate you coming out on such a hot day.

Now, I am really excited about this piece of work, and you've got a copy on your chairs. This has been a really ambitious piece of work, a community-driven whole of government plan for what decarbonisation actually looks like from the perspective of a residential community here in Curtin. It looks at all the main sources of emissions and what we need to do about them. Anything that ambitious comes with risk, and there may be things in there that are not exactly how it turns out, but we wanted to create a snapshot of what we're doing now and also what needs to happen in the future with specific asks for governments at all level and individual actions, what you can do. And I think the main message here is that it's going to take action at a whole lot of different levels; it'll be messy and imperfect, but it is actually possible, and we wanted to create a positive vision of what's possible, what it looks like, and why we should actually be excited about it. We haven't seen anything like this from other communities, so we're very excited that we might be breaking some new ground.

So, what is it? To start with, we've got a snapshot of Curtin's emissions. We emit about 2 million tons of CO2e equivalent, about half of that's from electricity here in Curtin, about a third is transport, and the rest is waste, gas, and industrial processes. So, that gives us a bit of a broad sense of what we're doing now. Now, the process we went through on this report was gargantuan. It was 50 volunteers from across the community working in five working groups on five key decarbonisation themes: electricity, building, transport, greening, and waste. And so, each working group contributed to a chapter and also started a community project. So, the electricity and buildings groups have combined, have started building this Electrify Curtain website, which is resources to help people work out how to electrify their own homes. The transport group is working, started a project promoting active transport for school kids which will continue this year. The Greening group started with Verge native Verge makeovers last spring, and we want to continue and amplify that project this year, and the waste group developed resources for plastic-free July to try to encourage people to reduce their plastic use at least in July to give them a sense of what's possible for the rest of the year.

Now, we have had an incredible group of volunteers. Can I ask all those who have been involved in the project in one of those groups to raise your hand? This gives me shivers; it's so exciting. We've had this incredible multidisciplinary team with engineers, academics, ex-public servants, and policymakers, architects, landscape designers, and passionate community members who want to see us decarbonize. All these people volunteering their professional skills in a context where they don't have to bring the agenda of their organization. And I think that makes it a really powerful piece of work. We didn't have to be true to the commitments that were made by a party last year or 10 years ago; we didn't have to shy away from things that would be politically brave; it was just based on what we actually need to get done. I hate to think what it would have cost if we were paying for the time of this group of multidisciplinary experts, so we're very lucky to have that time volunteered.

As I said, it's an extraordinary product because it was without an agenda other than an acknowledgement that this is something that just needs to happen. We didn't have to tiptoe around past party promises or vested interests; it's based on the evidence and our best current knowledge of what's needed. And I understand there was some pretty robust discussions about evidence, technologies, the difficult process that those groups went through to identify what are the highest priorities. So, there's some robust discussion behind it, and it has 12 pages of references, so you can actually check the source of most statements contained in the report and make up your own mind about its accuracy. I think this makes it a really good reference tool because when people say what needs to be done, here's a simple list of what needs to be done, and you can check where that's come from and what expertise it's behind it. So, just a big thank you to everyone again who's been involved in preparing.

Now, in terms of its content, it maps out the big steps we need to get there. So, for example, in the electricity chapter, it talks about the fact that we need close to 100% renewable electricity generation, we need increased storage capacity, we need upgraded transmission and distribution networks, and we need to coordinate supply and demand with a smart, flexible grid. Now, all of these describe why that's a necessary step and what it actually looks like. And then it contains specific asks at a federal, state, and local government level. Now, some of these are shorter term, and some are longer term; it will be messy, it will be imperfect, but the purpose of this is really to provide us with a tool for advocacy in identifying what are the sorts of things we need to ask each level of government to do. Some of the priorities at a federal level include attracting investment in renewables, updating the construction code to embed electric in our buildings, and a national strategy on transport and some other issues. At a state level, we need a renewable energy target for 2030 to give the private sector confidence, mandated energy efficiency disclosures, and funding for active and public transport, protection of tree canopy, and a FOGO strategy. And at a local level, decarbonizing council operations, making transport safer, implementing tree protections, and rolling out that FOGO.

And I want to just pause to pass on a big thanks to all the councils who, for their engagement in this process, and they helped us and the working groups learn what councils can and can't do. And there's some great work happening in some of the councils in Curtin, so we're very lucky to have them. So, thanks to the council mayors and CEOs who have joined us tonight. We need all three levels of government, so that's been very valuable to us to have your input.

So, what now with this piece of work? Well, today, I presented this report to Chris Bowen, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. I also presented a copy to Tanya Plibersek, Minister for the Environment, Greening, and Waste, are very much in her jurisdiction. I also presented a copy of it to Roger Cook at a state level, too, and you know, talked him through it. It is an advocacy tool, so for me and my work in Canberra, this sets out my orders from the community on our climate priorities. So, this is actually my mandate to represent the community and go and advocate for the changes that need to happen, which actually makes my life easier in a lot of ways because I can genuinely say this has come from broad community input. People have a general sense that we should be doing more on climate, but this now gives us a reference point for what it is that we actually need to be doing. So, we want to get it out to as many people as possible, and you can use it as a tool when you speak to your representatives at a local or state level, when you're thinking about what you can do in your household to contribute as well. It's not perfect; it's very ambitious, but I think it's a useful contribution to the debate. And you can help us get it out there. So, we'll send it to every local councillor in Curtin, we'll send it to every school in Curtin, too, because we think it's a really useful resource for schools to use. It'll be available on the website, and anyone can get a copy from our office if you email us or drop in to pick one up. So, we're very keen to get it out there as much as we can.

It's very ambitious, but I believe it's a meaningful contribution to the debate. We plan to distribute it widely, sending it to every local councilor in Curtin, as well as all the schools, because we see it as an invaluable resource for education. It will also be available on our website, and anyone can obtain a copy from our office by emailing us or picking one up in person. We're eager to get this information out as widely as possible.

However, I've not yet mentioned Claire Gardner. Claire has been instrumental in making this ambitious project a reality. What could have been a modest report transformed into a comprehensive 70-page document with the input of 50 community volunteers, thanks to her dedication. Claire's work, coordinating five working groups and infusing the process with intellectual rigor, exemplifies the impact one person can have on a project of this scale. Her courage and dedication are inspiring, making us all proud to have her on our team.

I now pass the floor to Claire to discuss our journey ahead, followed by our special guest speaker, Josh Byrne, who brings invaluable insight to our initiative. With this, I officially launch the Curtin Pathway to Net Zero.