The Greens will provide critical support for a climate bill that will legislate the government’s 2030 emissions reduction target, giving it the numbers it needs to pass the Senate.
Key points:
- Labour’s 2030 climate target will become law, legislating a national target of 43%.
- The Greens have agreed to support the climate goal, despite maintaining reservations
- Adam Bandt says his party will push to ban new coal and gas projects through other legislation
Labor has introduced a bill to enshrine its 43 per cent emissions reduction target in law and toughen reporting schemes to track progress towards the target.
Greens leader Adam Bandt has told the National Press Club that his party will support the bill, giving it the votes needed to pass it.
Bandt said he remained “bitterly disappointed” that the government would not ban new coal and gas projects, and that the party would vote to send the bill to an inquiry, where they hope to show that Labour’s climate policies do not they would meet the 43 percent legislated. goal.
“Labour can hold on now, but their position is ultimately untenable, and they cannot go to the next climate summits promising to open new coal and gas projects and expect to be taken seriously,” he said. to say.
Bandt said the party will now push to shut down future projects by changing the safeguard mechanism, which penalizes big polluting companies that exceed a set carbon emissions ceiling.
Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen shut down any chance of introducing a moratorium on coal and gas through the safeguard mechanism, saying the government would implement its election plan “without alteration”.
Bowen said he will begin consulting on the emissions lever later this month.
The government did not have the numbers in the Senate to pass the climate goals bill without the support of the Coalition or the crossbench.
The Coalition determined yesterday that it would oppose the bill, although some of its MPs and at least one senator are considering crossing the floor to support it.
Without the support of the Coalition, the government needed the support of the Greens to have any chance of legislating its goal.
The government will also need the support of at least one other senator; independent senator David Pocock has already indicated he will support it.
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief Andrew McKellar said the bill’s passage would send a clear and welcome signal to the market in its transition to clean energy.
“This is a missed opportunity for the opposition. Today’s announcement shows that the climate wars are over. This must act as a moment for unity of purpose,” McKellar said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese challenged the Coalition to “end the climate wars” and back the bill.
“After a decade of inaction, denial and delay, Parliament is about to move forward,” Albanese said.
“This is an opportunity for the whole parliament to be on the right side of history.”
Adam Bandt said Labor would be rewarded by voters if it adopted more ambitious climate policies. (ABC News: Nick Haggarty)
The Greens say Labor will have to change the moratorium on coal and gas
Bandt said his party would continue to fight against new coal and gas projects, despite agreeing to pass Labour’s bill.
“This is the first round, there are three years of this parliament,” said Bandt.
“The position of workers is ultimately untenable … this is increasingly becoming a deal breaker around the world.”
For a decade, Labor and the Greens have harbored bitter memories of the Greens’ decision not to support the 2009 carbon pollution reduction plan, which was ultimately defeated in parliament.
Labor has argued that the Greens share some of the blame for the so-called decade of climate inaction that followed because of their decision to oppose the CPRS.
The Greens had long argued that the policy would not work and would have locked the government into insufficient emissions targets that would see no improvement for 25 years.
The climate target bill, while largely symbolic because the government does not require laws to reach its 43 percent target, was seen as a back-test to see how the two parties would likely interact on climate change in the future.