Labor joining the Liberals in hugging coal: Bandt

2020-02-09

Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP has slammed Labor Deputy Leader Richard Marles comments on ABC's Insiders program and called on Anthony Albanese to overrule his deputy and join the Greens in opposing coal.

Quotes attributable to Adam Bandt MP:

"It's 3 years to the day since Scott Morrison hugged a lump of coal and now Labor is doing the same.

"The coal huggers in the Liberals want to build new coal-fired power stations and open up new coal mines and Labor is refusing to join with the Greens to stop them.

“When Labor says coal is here to stay for decades, it makes young people afraid and anxious.

"If you don't have a plan to phase out coal and replace it with renewables then you don't have a plan to tackle the climate crisis.

"I'm calling on Labor leader Anthony Albanese to overrule his deputy Richard Marles and join with the Greens to stop the Liberals from building new coal fired power stations and opening up new coal mines.

"Burning more coal will threaten our safety by fuelling more intense droughts, worse bushfires and more extreme weather events like we're seeing right now.

"We need Green New Deal to get out of coal, look after coal communities during the transition and turn Australia into a renewable energy superpower."