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Dear Premier Mark McGowan and Treasurer Ben Wyatt

More than ever before, we have an opportunity to invest in a sustainable future for WA

There has never been a more important time for Western Australia to have a plan for jobs. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been significant and is likely to be felt across our community for years to come. To reboot our economy, and build back better, we need to have a plan. A plan that puts people and the planet at the centre.
 
On a global scale, we have entered the critical decade for addressing climate change, and WA has a vital role to play. WA can benefit significantly from the transition to a zero-carbon future. Through taking action on climate change we can deliver thousands of sustainable jobs in clean industries for WA. And the good news is that West Australians already have the skills, expertise, and resources to make it happen. 
 
The economic case for a low-carbon stimulus and ‘building back better’ is overwhelming.  Research shows that far more jobs are created in low carbon industries than fossil fuel-based areas for each dollar invested (Figure 1).

We urge you to set a new course with a clean jobs plan

West Australians know that our future lies in clean jobs not polluting industries like fossil gas and the time has come for a job recovery plan that takes care of local communities and the places we love.

The Clean State Jobs Plan sets out an ambitious program of action on climate change that will create 200,000 jobs. Together these initiatives will create thousands of new jobs across many business sectors, drive down climate pollution, and make WA a fairer, safer and cleaner place to live and work.

On behalf of our supporters we urge you to include the following priorities in your stimulus and recovery plans:

• Improve energy productivity and reduce energy costs for households, businesses and government agencies.
• Kick-start a boom in a renewable energy powered manufacturing and minerals processing industries.
• Set up WA as a global leader in carbon sequestration, carbon farming and low carbon agriculture.
• Future proof Perth city by delivering clean and efficient transport infrastructure.
  Support a healthy environment by maintaining WA’s unique and threatened biodiversity.
• Invest in our regions to improve the resilience of regional communities.
• Support WA’s most vulnerable individuals and communities so that nobody is left behind.
• Engage a diverse mix of organisations to manage risks and share the benefits.
• Reduce overall costs and deliver efficient economic outcomes by transferring costs to those who are in a position to reduce them, including by shifting the costs of carbon pollution to WA’s biggest polluters

If our response uses this once in a lifetime opportunity to tackle the health, economic, and climate crisis together, we can kickstart WA’s economy with thousands of clean jobs that take care of families and our climate.