2025-11-14
As the Liberal Party flounders headfirst into electoral oblivion with their announcement to ditch the goal of reaching net-zero emissions to protect our planet, the Canberra Liberals have been mincing words on their stance.
Leader of the ACT Greens and Greens Climate Spokesperson Shane Rattenbury said the Canberra Liberals have a lot to answer for if they want to be taken seriously by Canberrans looking for real climate leadership.
Lines attributable to Shane Rattenbury, Leader of the ACT Greens:
“Today’s announcement from the Federal Parliamentary Liberal Party is a bad omen for the direction of the Canberra Liberals—because the fact of the matter is that the climate-sceptic wing in their federal party are feeling emboldened by Donald Trump’s cowboy approach to international climate politics, and they want to replicate it right here in Australia.
“Sussan Ley’s decision to ditch a policy of net-zero emissions in Australia isn’t just a policy for the Federal Liberals, it’s a stance we’ve seen the Canberra Liberals refuse to condemn—with their new leader and their new candidate for the Senate failing to rule out the idea of abandoning net-zero policies in this city.
“To put it bluntly, this is criminal. For a party wondering why they’re not being taken seriously by the electorate in Canberra, they need to have a serious look at their refusal to acknowledge the real world financial, environmental and social impacts of climate change on people who live in Canberra and around the world.
“Last election, the Canberra Liberals went to the electorate with a policy of ditching the Greens ban on fossil fuel gas connections and ditching the Greens phase-out of fossil-fuel cars. The question is: will they continue to resist the renewable energy revolution?
“At the same time, local Labor went to the election with no new climate policies and over the past year, we’ve seen the consequences—with Canberra rolling backwards on our emissions reduction targets – targets the Greens fought hard to secure and deliver.
“Right now, we need real accountability to the actions of this government, and we need real climate action. And it seems that it will be up to the Greens to do this job while the Labor Party stalls and the Liberals flounder.