Ahead of the federal election on May 21, the Mercury is asking candidates in the Cunningham electorate questions on the issues that readers have identified as the most important to them.

One of these issues is climate change.

Read more: Meet your Illawarra federal election 2022 candidates

The questions the Mercury put to the candidates were:

You can read the candidates' responses below.

Whilst the climate changes we need practical solutions for the future. We need clean and safe energy from sources that burn more waste than they produce. This is why Thorium reactors are the way forward. Renewables such as solar and wind are great things and have a promising future. However, they have significant issues with safety, recycling, damage to wildlife and human rights abuse issues in the supply chain that must be addressed and for this reason their wide spread adaptation is unlikely at this point. I am very worried about the impact on wild life from these renewable sources and the Human Rights issues MUST be addressed as a matter of urgency. Port Kembla provides a significant amount of jobs and income to the people of the Illawarra so it is of vital importance that this is maintained. Fossil fuels contribute to income in the Illawarra. This income provided a resource for further research into more practical alternatives that are environmentally friendly. This change would happen in the distant future.

Labor knows that climate action is not only good for the environment, but it is good for the economy and jobs.

An Albanese Labor Government will deliver Powering Australia - Labor's plan to create jobs, cut power bills and reduce emissions by boosting renewable energy.

Powering Australia will help create new apprenticeships, install community batteries, support the development of green steel and introduce Australia's first National Electric Vehicle Strategy.

Independent modelling shows that Powering Australia will create more than 600,000 jobs and spur $76 billion in investment and our region should be at the heart of this.

In the Illawarra we have all of the qualities that we need to be a central part of building the economy of the future while creating jobs and reducing emissions.

Assets like our workforce, port, the University, TAFE and the steel industry do and will play an important role in renewing energy generation and transmission infrastructure while helping to build new opportunities in industries such as hydrogen and energy storage.

If elected, I will work with local business and community leaders to make the Illawarra a part of the solution to addressing climate change and creating jobs. For many years my father worked in local mines, often in and out of work which created uncertainty for our family. I don't want to see other local families deal with the same employment and financial uncertainty so I will do all that I can to embrace and build the opportunities that are available to local industry to be part of the climate and employment solution.

Alongside the economic benefits, Powering Australia will reduce emissions by 43% by 2030 - keeping us on track for net zero by 2050, compared to the Morrison Government's 26-28% target, which was set when Tony Abbott was Prime Minister.

With changing climate conditions affecting every community, there is an opportunity for pro-active, localised action. This consultation, planning and implementation of preventative measures must reflect the needs of the residents, flora and fauna in different micro-climates within Cunningham. As we've seen with devastating events such as the bushfires and Northern Rivers flooding, thinking ahead, listening to the wisdom of residents and being proactive would have dramatically reduced the negative impact of these events. Sadly neoliberalism's drive on centralising ignores the obvious fact that many solutions are localised and decentralised in reality. This includes working with our first-response services, council, community groups and SES to tap into the wealth of experience that puts intelligent, collaborative solutions at the heart of a sustainable future for Cunningham.

Creation of the new national bank, to replace the sold-off Commonwealth Bank, will give direct access to funding for infrastructure investment in climate change mitigation projects. It would also give local Councils direct access to funds, rather than trying to fight for limited federal funds, to immediately fix issues such as the potholes and road damage due to the recent rainfall events.

Port Kembla has been an important part of our Cunningham community's history, employment and development. As we look ahead to implementing renewable sources of energy for neighbourhoods, businesses, state-wide and nationally, there needs to be a clear encouragement of innovations in energy industries. Australia has often suffered not from a lack of expertise in this area, but a lack of capital and funding sources to leapfrog from innovation into actualising the innovation into an industry. This highlights why the Citizens Party has been working with MPs of all parties to realise the creation of a new national bank to solve the funding problems our country has in funding creative and effective solutions to climate change.

Climate change and COVID have a lot in common. Climate change is real, and climate change will impact us, however its severity is and will be exaggerated. If this is left unchecked the result will be higher electricity prices, higher costs of living and increased government taxes and regulation. We do not want this. While climate change is occuring, it not an emergency and Australian virtue signalling won't make any difference. More importantly, Australia should have some of the cheapest energy in the world, but regular Australians pay too much because of the ban on nuclear power and the bureaucratic over-regulation of our energy industry. The government should stop picking winners, and let Australians choose the cheapest and best energy options that suit their lives and values.

We've just experienced a rain-bomb across the East coast of Australia, and I really hope it's finished. Throughout Cunningham, this led to school and road closures, storm-ravaged beaches, and tragedies further afield. Just weeks ago, the environment minister removed her duty of care to protect future generations from climate change. This is the result of decades of climate negligence from lawmakers.

Labor and Liberals are still planning to open 114 new coal and gas mines, despite the dire need to shift away from fossil fuels. They have climate targets that do not align with the 2015 Paris Climate Accord, and have consistently sided with fossil fuel lobbyists rather than the health and safety of Australians.

But unlike all the other parties, The Greens have a science-based climate policy and a genuine commitment to tackling climate change. That's why we plan to provide a job-for-job guarantee for coal workers, ensuring that they maintain employment as we transition our workforce to the industries of the future.

Port Kembla has been an essential part of Cunningham, but changes need to be made so that local industry is compatible with a safe planet. The Greens want to invest $5.9 billion into renewably-powered metal processing industries. Adam Bandt is coming to Wollongong later today to announce the details of this policy, and what this means for the Illawarra. The sooner we establish green steel at Port Kembla, the sooner we cut emissions and place ourselves at the forefront of this emerging industry.

The latest science from the IPCC suggests that if we act now, we can avoid the worst of climate change, but it will take vision and commitment - things we won't get from the same old, tired parties. Climate change was the hook that got me into politics, and I will never stop working towards a greener, brighter future.

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