AUSTRALIANS WANT REAL ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Polling released today by the Australia Institute confirms what Labor has long known; the majority of Australians want real action on climate change and the Turnbull Government is failing to deliver.

Under the Abbott-Turnbull government, carbon pollution has continued to go up, and up, and up, and according to the Government’s own data, pollution is projected to keep rising to 2030, missing Malcolm Turnbull’s already weak pollution reduction targets.

That’s why it should be no surprise that only 25 per cent of people believe Malcolm Turnbull and Josh Frydenberg’s spin that Australia is “on track” to meet the Government’s weak targets.

Australians also agree with the experts that the Turnbull Government’s pollution reduction targets are too weak, with 60 per cent supporting higher targets to avoid catastrophic climate change and really deliver on our obligations under the Paris Accords.

This shouldn’t be surprising when experts like the Climate Council point out the Abbott-Turnbull targets fall “well short of what is required to meet Australia’s commitments for 2030 under the Paris climate agreement.”

Likewise, the respected consultancy RepuTex has stated the Turnbull Government’s targets would “result in the phasing-out electricity emissions between 2095 and 2101” when Labor’s 45 per cent target would be consistent with “net zero by 2047, providing a better chance of limiting global warming to under 2°C”.

Even the energy industry thinks the Turnbull Government’s targets are too weak, with Origin Energy recently stating they support “an eventual goal of net zero emissions for the electricity sector by 2050 or earlier.”

Malcolm Turnbull once said he would not lead a government that wasn’t as committed to action on climate change as he is. But with carbon pollution continuing to skyrocket and hopelessly weak Abbott era pollution reduction targets, the Prime Minister continues to ignore the experts, ignore industry and ignore the will of the Australian people.