Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne, said:

"Australia's steadily rising greenhouse pollution, particularly from burning coal, shows that the Government's strategy to sandbag the coal sector and other big polluters is completely inconsistent with climate protection. The only way to protect the climate is to rapidly transform Australia into a carbon neutral powerhouse, but the Government is doing everything it can to sandbag Australia's 19th century polluters.

"It is vital that we adopt targets consistent with the science, of 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020, instead of the Government's weak 5% target. This is a huge task, but it is one that we cannot turn our back on if we want to protect the Great Barrier Reef and the Murray Darling.

"The stronger the targets we aim for, the more jobs we will create, and the greater chance we give ourselves to avoid tipping points in the climate that would trigger catastrophe."