Why did Port Macquarie-Hastings Council bypass its own “best practice” guidelines to ditch climate policy?

Port Macquarie-Hastings Council (PMHC) repealed its climate change response policy without community consultation in May, less than four years after implementing it. 

Concerns have since been raised by councillors and community members about how this decision will impact council’s ability to access natural disaster funding.

The background: This is not the first time PHMC has overturned a climate change-related decision.

It declared a climate change emergency in March 2021, before revoking that declaration 11 months later under former mayor Peta Pinson.

Following that decision, a revised Climate Change Response policy was adopted in December 2022, developed with the input of residents and community groups. 

What was in it?: The policy outlined council's intention to implement "appropriate mitigation actions" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with net zero targets, manage council's risks from climate change and support adaptation and resilience strategies for the community, and ensure that climate change adaptation remained a core component of council planning.

The policy itself did not outline specific actions for council staff to undertake. 

It also served to inform the strategic objectives of the council’s environmental sustainability strategy released last year, which council says it will now need to review.

Why was it revoked?: Leading the push to revoke the policy was Libertarian councillor Mark Hornshaw, who said it dealt with issues outside council’s remit.

• “One thing the council cannot do, despite any imagining to the contrary, is to change the climate of the globe. Nor can we change the climate in our local area in any way at all. To pretend we can is sheer hubris,” he said.
  
  “Whether the climate stays the same, changes beneficially, or changes for the worse, what we cannot do is to stop the weather through hubristic declarations, while adding extra costs to ratepayers in the attempt.” 

The NSW Government’s Climate Change Net Zero Act 2023 states that local councils are essential partners in delivering legislated emissions reduction targets.

Hornshaw claimed “climate change ideology” is responsible for driving up insurance premiums and did little to prepare communities for extreme weather. 

How councillors responded: Councillors Nik Lipovac, Lauren Edwards and Hamish Tubman spoke against the motion.

Edwards moved a failed alternate motion, seeking to place the proposal to repeal the policy on public exhibition for a period of at least 28 days. She questioned the process of not consulting the community, noting council’s own policies recommend a public exhibition period when considering such a decision. 

In response, general manager Robert Fish said council policies are “a guiding document” and “typically would obviously represent best practice”, but that the motion to repeal the policy was compliant with the code of meeting practice. 

What they said: Lipovac warned that repealing the policy may limit council’s ability to “take advantage of the buckets of money available” through grant programs supporting infrastructure upgrades and disaster preparedness. 

He described in detail the local impacts of extreme weather in recent years, including the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20 and a litany of floods. 

• “The May 2025 floods were described as a once-in-a-century flood, with rainfall levels exceeding the 500-year average, five confirmed fatalities, extensive property damage, nearly 800 homes declared uninhabitable, 9,500 households ordered to evacuate and more than 48,000 people isolated due to flood water,” he said. 

  
  “Between March 2021 and July 2022, the Port Macquarie-Hastings local government area experienced four major flood events, including a one-in-100-year flood.
  
  “By having a response policy in place, we can continue to access funding that specifically relates to these events.
  
  “This council… is not in a financial position to knock back funding and then expect financial assistance when we're impacted by extreme weather conditions.”

Impact to ratepayers: Local Angela Frimberger, a member of the council sustainability subcommittee which helped develop the policy, said repealing it will ultimately lead to higher costs for ratepayers.

• “The policy was not created as a symbolic gesture, but because local governments are already dealing with very costly real-world impacts of climate change,” she said. 

  
  “Roads, drainage, parks, waste management, emergency preparedness, town planning and community infrastructure are all directly affected by environmental conditions.
  
  “Repealing the policy will not remove the challenges, just our plan for dealing with them.” 

Playing our part: Harry Creamer, founding president of Climate Change Australia Hastings, told the Mid North Coaster the decision “flies in the face of science and basic common sense”.

• “[It’s] irresponsible because it removes a much-needed leadership focus on the impacts of climate change, the need to play our part in reducing carbon pollution and always be on high-level preparedness for the next extreme weather event to hit us,” he said. 

Local issues on display: Coastal erosion - a natural phenomenon exacerbated by sea level rise, storm surges and long-term sand loss - also remains a major concern across the Port Macquarie Hastings LGA. 

At the same council meeting a coastal hazard assessment, which outlined locations already experiencing active erosion that “threatens public and private assets”, was reviewed. The sites included Town Beach, Shelly Beach, Rainbow Beach and Lake Cathie Beach.

It also warns coastal inundation will “increase in frequency and extent”, and tidal inundation risk in estuarine communities will “rise substantially”. 

Image credit: Port Macquarie SES.