2020-10-30
Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, has responded to Labor’s reported capitulation to the Liberals on coal and gas by saying that with both parties agreeing on increasing new coal and gas exports and Labor having dropped any short-term emissions target, there is currently no difference between the parties on reining in the biggest sources of climate pollution.
“Labor has just agreed with the Liberals on coal and gas,” said Greens Leader, Adam Bandt.
“In a climate emergency, you don’t expand coal and gas developments.
“Labor is trying to end the ‘climate wars’ by surrendering to the Liberals.
“Instead of fighting the Tories, Labor is backing them, taking the pressure off Scott Morrison to do better.
“At this crucial moment in history we should be taking the fight up to Scott Morrison on climate, but instead Labor is taking his side.
“Scott Morrison will be cheering Labor’s latest capitulation as the so-called ‘opposition’ is now letting him get away with more gas, more coal and weak 2030 targets.
“This document is an agreement for the Labor Party to uncritically support an industry whose business model is based on the extermination of life as we know it.
“Labor has given the big coal and gas corporations what they want, committing to keeping coal-fired power open until 2050, fracking the Northern Territory, crossing the country with gas pipelines, and sucking up every last molecule of hydrocarbons on the continent.
“Labor has shackled Australia’s workers to a sinking industry.
“It’s a betrayal to workers, and to everyone in Labor who hoped that Joel Fitzgibbon’s spruiking of climate-destroying gas extraction was anything but the official party position.
“Gas is as dirty as coal. We don’t need new gas to transition to a jobs rich clean energy economy that generates electricity through solar and wind, and exports energy through green hydrogen.
“What’s worse is that this capitulation isn’t necessary. Labor’s post-election review demonstrates they didn’t lose in Queensland because of a lack of support for fossil fuels. The Liberals won because of an multi-million dollar disinformation campaign by Clive Palmer, but Labor has swallowed the ridiculous Liberal line that Bill Shorten was somehow too strong on climate.
“We need to look after workers and expand our manufacturing industry. We won’t do that by burning our planet with the approaches of the past. We need a Green New Deal that gives us full employment through investing in clean energy, while putting a stop to the climate crisis."
KEY REPORTED ELEMENTS OF THE PLAN:
- New coal projects
- New and expanded onshore and offshore gas extraction
- Support for fracking
- No phased shutdown of coal-fired power plants
- Support for Santos’ Narrabri Gas Project
- Construction of QLD-NSW Methane Pipeline
- Expansion of methane exports