4 years ago
KING REVIEW INTO THE EMISSIONS REDUCTION FUND
MARK BUTLER MP
Labor welcomes the Government finally releasing the recommendations of the King Review into the Emissions Reduction Fund. We’ll take the time to consider a detailed response.
We know Tony Abbott’s Emissions Reduction Fund has been an abject failure ever since it was introduced — failing to cut pollution, let alone fuel a renewables-driven economic modernisation.
It has never been anything other than an expensive taxpayer funded fig leaf covering up what Malcolm Turnbull described as“a determination to do nothing.”
It is the taxpayer funded fig leaf that exposes the hypocrisy of the Morrison Government’s latest climate marketing catchphrase; “technology not taxes”.
If Scott Morrison and his Government were serious about climate change they would listen to the science and adopt the same Paris consistent target that every state and territory, as well as Labor has adopted: net zero emissions by 2050.
The Government’s lack of serious climate and energy policy had already caused renewable energy investment to collapse before the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Reserve Bank confirming earlier industry reports that investment was down by 50 per cent in 2019. They need to deliver a COVID-19 recovery plan which brings forward investment in new renewable projects, which will create tens of thousands of new jobs, stimulate regional economies, and deliver cheaper power prices.
We know Tony Abbott’s Emissions Reduction Fund has been an abject failure ever since it was introduced — failing to cut pollution, let alone fuel a renewables-driven economic modernisation.
It has never been anything other than an expensive taxpayer funded fig leaf covering up what Malcolm Turnbull described as“a determination to do nothing.”
It is the taxpayer funded fig leaf that exposes the hypocrisy of the Morrison Government’s latest climate marketing catchphrase; “technology not taxes”.
If Scott Morrison and his Government were serious about climate change they would listen to the science and adopt the same Paris consistent target that every state and territory, as well as Labor has adopted: net zero emissions by 2050.
The Government’s lack of serious climate and energy policy had already caused renewable energy investment to collapse before the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Reserve Bank confirming earlier industry reports that investment was down by 50 per cent in 2019. They need to deliver a COVID-19 recovery plan which brings forward investment in new renewable projects, which will create tens of thousands of new jobs, stimulate regional economies, and deliver cheaper power prices.