Abbott Cabinet deep in climate change delusion, spin
Australian Greens Leader Christine Milne says the government's global warming denial is on full display today, as new figures show pollution has increased since the repeal of the carbon price.
"The depth of this government's denial is alarming. They're condemning Australia to economic dislocation, to being way behind the rest of the word, and to making life harder and more dangerous for everyone in our region, as extreme fires and storms intensify," said Senator Milne.
"Today we've got the Environment Minister doing dodgy accounting to say he's going to meet a truly pathetic emissions reduction target, we've got Minister Macfarlane hosting industry reps to push his huge cut to the Renewable Energy Target, and we've got Julie Bishop bringing in a climate policy sceptic to talk to staff about delivering better foreign aid.
"If you're going to help our Pacific island neighbours, you have to acknowledge that they are already suffering the impacts of climate change. Vanuatu's president said so himself. The Abbott government needs to stop its obfuscation and get real.
"The independent Climate Change Authority says we need to be cutting emissions 40 to 60% by 2030, but Greg Hunt's response is to just kick back, put up his feet and prop up coal, because we might get to 5% by 2020.
"Even that achievement isn't genuine. Australia negotiated an increase in how much they were allowed to pollute when Kyoto was first signed. They came in under that target and now they're counting that fake achievement in this one.
"Minister Hunt may be able to delude himself into believing he's making a meaningful cut in pollution, but he isn't fooling anyone else. The world is on a pathway to serious action on global warming in Paris by the end of the year, and Greg Hunt is going off in the other direction.
"The latest National Greenhouse Accounts have been released today and show another jump in emissions from electricity generation since the repeal of the carbon price.
"The government is trying to put rose-coloured glasses on the community, so we don't mind that they're protecting the profits of their fossil fuel mates who are continuing to pollute for free.
"This is no time for self-congratulation or indulgence in science denial. We need to do a lot more to cut the pollution that is driving global warming and extreme weather, not less," said Senator Milne.
"Regardless of whatever accounting tricks the government uses, the 5% target is grossly inadequate. It goes nowhere near what's needed to address global warming and protect people in our region, and any cut to the RET will make the problem worse."