FREMANTLE council has moved a step closer to banning advertising that promotes fossil fuels on its properties.

On Wednesday the council approved a motion brought forward by councillor Adin Lang – a commercial development manager with Greening Australia in his day job – to investigate a potential ban and its impact on sporting and community groups.

“I was approached by members of our community to bring this motion through, following in the footsteps of a handful of councils around Australia,” Cr Lang said at the meeting.

“One of the key points I want to make is that this action by us won’t stop climate change; no individual action will.

“As we as a globe are transitioning away from fossil fuels, I think this is completely reasonable to start transitioning away from promoting companies whose core revenue is fossil fuels.

We all know that last summer in Perth was the hottest summer on record.

Hotter and hotter

The science suggests its just going to get hotter and hotter each summer we go through.

With his motion prompting something of a media storm when it was flagged before the city’s policy and legislation committee, there weren’t many long speeches from supporters amongst his colleagues.

Councillor Su Groome did note, though, that cricket hadn’t collapsed when cigarette sponsorship was banned.

But councillors Geoff Graham, Marija Vujcic and Fedele Camarda spoke against the motion.

“The whole world’s green, we’re just different shades,” Cr Graham said.

“I bring this down to the local government level; let Albanese and all the others fight these big companies about emission trading, blah, blah, blah.

“But at local govt level, and I have been a member of sporting clubs all my life; I’ve been on committees, I am still on committees. And the biggest thing for local sporting clubs is raising funds.

Cr Graham said it was important volunteer-run clubs had the opportunity to get sponsorship, saying that if a fossil fuel company offered the local soccer club $5000 to run some junior clinics “I would put my hand up for that 11 times out of 10”.

Cr Camarda questioned whether investigating the issue was a good use of officers’ time.

by STEVE GRANT