Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell is well paid.
And that is as it should be, for as our man in Canberra, he has many challenges, issues, dilemmas, problems and conundrums he is meant to delicately step through on behalf of the people of the federal seat of Nicholls.
Does he always negotiate that bizarre, no-win and seemingly thankless task with aplomb?
Of course not, for just like us, he is human, burdened with various fascinations, passions, distractions, rusted-on ideologies, beliefs, wants and needs, and friendships ranging from deep to fleeting that demand servicing with either friendship or favour.
But does he do his best? Of course, but that is subjective, for what is important to one from the electorate is to another of so little importance or concern that it barely warrants consideration.
There is, however, one issue that surpasses all those matters. Exceeds all issues, is such a vast and sweeping matter that it exceeds sovereignty in every sense and demands a response as fresh and different as tomorrow.
Long have I avoided lumping the responsibility for leading us through this upon someone such as Sam, but he is, whatever we might think, our most influential decision-maker, who frequently keeps company with those who could make a difference and help the people of Nicholls negotiate the quickly unfolding travails of the climate crisis.
However, it was not until I read the book Solving the Climate Crisis: Frontline Reports from the Race to Save the Earth by John J. Berger and then interviewed him for my podcast, Climate Conversations, that my options narrowed to the Member for Nicholls.
Berger’s book is among the best that’s crossed my desk, and after reading the conclusion, it became clear it was time to have the likes of Mr Birrell declare his position on the climate crisis.
It’s worth noting that Mr Birrell has already declared his hand with regard to the climate crisis. Still, it is such an existential moment that it is socially, practically and politically irresponsible to leave such a critical issue to something as nebulous as the market.
Discussing the need for powerful climate action, Mr Berger writes: “Everyone has a part to play, and we all must show up. We must act — educate, organise and mobilise ourselves and others.
It is now up to us to ensure that the resources are made available and the structures are put in place to scale up the climate savers’ pioneering work and deploy it in the service of climate protection and the clean-energy transition.
That transformation must become nothing less than the top priority of the nation and the world. Only a society forever wedded to energy efficiency and renewable energy has any hope of saving itself from a global climate catastrophe.
Mr Birrell is backed into a corner; the science is clear and irrefutable, and the climate crisis will make life in Nicholls challenging. So he needs to use his position and influence to see our Federal Government embrace energy efficiency in every sense, adopt the absolute use of renewable energy and abandon, ultimately, the fantasy of nuclear power.
Yes, Mr Birrell, arriving at a place where we have some hope of adapting to a changing climate is not going to be easy, and helping prepare Nicholls and Australia itself to survive and thrive in a wholly different world could well be your legacy; a legacy built on bold and courageous leadership.
Yes, leadership will help the people of Nicholls, Australia and the world restore the safe climate we once had.
Meanwhile, Mr Berger has not been shy in explaining the complexities of solving the climate crisis, writing that it will be hard, it will not be easy, we will make mistakes, some will win, some will lose and that people like Mr Birrell (he didn’t name him personally) have to “show up” and begin to earn his $210,000-plus salary.
The fossil fuel industry has suggested the climate crisis can only be resolved through individual action. That is not true.
Responsibility for this crisis rests mainly with that industry, and until it faces limits and restrictions forced upon them by Mr Birrell and his counterparts in Federal Parliament, nothing will change; global temperatures will continue to rise, and you and I, our children and grandchildren will live in a world starkly different (worse) than that enjoyed by our grandparents.
Am I being critical of Mr Birrell? Of course — he is our Canberra conduit, and as such, there is no-one else on whom to pile my personal concerns.
Do I stand with Mr Birrell? Of course, but with the caveat that he must first work with the people of Nicholls to help them prepare for and adapt to a warmer world, and, beyond that, he must embrace that process and then urge his Canberra counterparts to also address the climate crisis with a seriousness it has not yet been afforded.