“We know that the kind of dichotomy between the environment and the workplace is absolutely wrong. We can have a healthy, fast-growing economy, we can continue to develop, and we can better protect our natural environment.”
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Plibersek will be the last line of approval for any major fossil fuel project in the next three years. These could include the Beetaloo Basin gas field in the Northern Territory, east coast gas import terminals and offshore oil and gas projects.
When he was in opposition, Labor pledged to support any new coal or gas project as long as its environmental and economic credentials were accumulated.
Federal Energy Minister Madeleine King and energy experts have said that new gas projects will need to be developed, particularly in the short term, to supply enough gas to bridge the transition from energy to renewables, a argument much answered by the defenders of the green.
Plibersek said Monday that any assessment he found on his desk for final environmental approval will be judged on a case-by-case basis.
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“I’m going to make a decision on any project that comes to me from the information and science that I have in front of me at the moment, so I won’t start speculating on individual projects,” he said.
“I will not start making general statements about fossil fuels in general, it is not a responsible way for any minister to behave.”
Climate change is a major factor in global environmental decline, and Plibersek said his government was united in pushing for action to help address it.
“I don’t think we need to push for emissions reductions because we have a Prime Minister and a Minister of Energy and Climate who are absolutely committed to it,” he said.
“One of our first acts is to bring legislation to parliament to legislate a 43 per cent emission reduction by 2030, on the way to zero net by 2050.
“I don’t need to push them to act. What I want them to be able to do, though, is really support some of the efforts to help implement the emissions reduction we need to do as a nation.”
Cut to the chase of federal politics with Jacqueline Maley’s news, opinion, and expert analysis. Subscribers can subscribe to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.