Coal miner Clive Palmer helps Tony Abbott score massive win for polluters and coal miners

The Australian Greens say coal miner Clive Palmer has helped our climate denier Prime Minister to demolish emissions trading in favour of a complete sham that benefits coal miners and polluters.

"Coal miner Clive Palmer has worked with the climate denier Abbott government to deliver a huge win for coal miners and big polluters," Greens Leader Christine Milne said.

"The dodgy and misnamed Direct Action policy will not reduce pollution. It has absolutely no substance at all.

"The dodgy Direct Action scheme is nothing more than voluntary grants that will allow polluters to get their sticky fingers into tax payer's pockets. There is no modelling or any evidence to suggest it will do anything at all to reduce pollution.

"All Clive Palmer's huff and puff about global warming has come to absolutely nothing. He has torn down emissions trading and the mining tax, is promoting a massive coal mine, and is now pretending he cares about global warming. He cares no more than Tony Abbott, which is not at all. What a joke.

"Malcolm Turnbull described Direct Action as fiscal recklessness on a grand scale and he was right.

"Now the Greens will move amendments in the parliament, to try to give this pathetic excuse for climate policy some actual spine and rigour.

"Huge flaws in the Direct Action policy make it even more important to preserve the Renewable Energy Target exactly as it is, so we can achieve some real emissions reductions while transforming the Australian economy.

"We must use all the tools in the toolbox to genuinely cut pollution. Destroying the price on pollution, the RET and pretending Direct Action can work to bring down emissions will not cut it."