Council votes unanimously after community petition
Darebin City Council has unanimously called on the Federal Government to create a National Climate Compensation Fund, financed by a levy on major coal, oil and gas corporations.
Councillors passed the motion at a council meeting on Tuesday, 25 August 2026, after a paper petition signed by 35 supporters and a digital petition backed by more than 400 others.
The fund would help councils and communities cover rising costs from climate-fuelled disasters across Australia.
Cr Julie O’Brien moved the motion. She said the call came from the community and argued councils need a national solution as climate impacts worsen and local government budgets stay under pressure.
In December 2016, councillor Trent McCarthy moved what the council describes as the world’s first government-level climate emergency declaration.
According to the council, that decision later inspired similar declarations in other governments, including in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Councils press Canberra for levy
Almost a decade later, the council has joined other Australian councils asking Canberra to make coal and gas corporations pay a share of the costs linked to their pollution.
Those councils include the City of Sydney, Byron Shire, City of Parramatta, City of Newcastle, City of Hobart, Tweed Shire and Bayside.
Resident Lesley Walker presented the community petition to councillors. She said households already face higher insurance premiums, rising food costs, disaster recovery bills and the strain of disrupted lives and grief.
Walker said supporters included octogenarians on mobility scooters, young security guards, a member of Asians for Climate Solutions and a rusted-on Union Labor man.
Nationally, fires, floods and cyclones cost Australia $38 billion a year. That total is projected to rise to $73 billion by 2060.
The Australia Institute found insured losses from climate-related disasters have risen more than twelve times in 20 years, while local government revenue has grown only three times.
However, the council did not set out a proposed levy rate, a fund model or whether it wants the scheme to apply only to domestic producers or to all major coal, oil and gas corporations operating in Australia.
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