Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

What we have seen this week is a government that have proven once and for all that it is stuck so far in the past it cannot even see what is going on in the world around them. In so many areas, the government have firmly shackled themselves to last century thinking and last century policy. And while the rest of the world moves forward, the Liberals are determinedly trying to drag Australia backwards with them. There is no better example of this than in the area of climate change. Make no mistake: the climate reduction figure announced by the Abbott government yesterday is an utter abrogation of Australia's international responsibilities.

As the highest per capita emitter on the planet, not to mention one of the wealthiest countries, we have an obligation not only to pull our weight but also to set an example for other countries. Australia should be frontrunners on climate action, but the meagre target of 26 to 28 per cent reductions by 2030 set by the Abbott government puts us close to the back of the pack. All the countries we normally compare ourselves with have significantly higher targets than the ones proposed by the Prime Minister yesterday. The US target to 2030 would be 41 per cent. Germany will be aiming for 46 per cent.    The United Kingdom is looking toward 48 per cent.

In this light, it is hard to disagree with UK climate target advisor, and former minister in Margaret Thatcher's conservative government, Lord Deben, when he calls Australia's target 'pathetic'. On this matter Lord Deben said:

Australia is fundamentally out of step and this decision puts Australia among the 'don't cares' of the international community.

Australia made a commitment, along with 194 other countries, to keep global warming below two degrees. But The Climate Institute has confirmed that the target established by Prime Minister Abbott and his merry band of climate deniers will lead to three to four degrees of warming. These are very dangerous levels indeed. If we reach them, the consequences will be dire. This complete lack of action is appalling. But, of course, it is not surprising. In fact, this government has a litany of climate crimes on its rap sheet.

It was the Abbott government that axed the Climate Commission, which communicated authoritative information on climate change. It was the Abbott government that was so blinded by its hatred for renewable energy that it tried to shut down the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, which actually delivers a profit to the government through investing in clean energy projects. It is the Abbott Government that, failing to axe the CEFC, has changed its mandate so it cannot invest in the most cost-effective forms of renewable energy generation: wind and solar.

At the same time, it is the Abbott government that also wants to shut down Australia's renewable energy solutions body, ARENA. It was the Abbott government which tried to give $4 million of taxpayers' money to climate sceptic Bjorn Lomberg—up to $2.8 million of which was to going to be spent on marketing and events. It was the Abbott government which turned its back on the pre-election promise that there would be no changes to the renewable energy target, causing renewables investment to plummet 88 per cent. It was the Abbott government which appointed a noted climate sceptic to head up the review of the renewable energy target.

It is the Abbott Government that ignored expert opinion to do a dirty deal with crossbenchers and establish a wind committee and research committee. This is an absolute waste of taxpayers' dollars that is not only unwarranted but duplicative and expensive. And, of course, it was the Abbott government which was the only government to dismantle a market-based approach to climate emissions reduction.

But the problem does not just lie with the measly target announced yesterday. The real issue is the complete, utter and total lack of a plan from the government as to how they are going to reach its target. Clearly, it is not going to be through its climate policy fig leaf, Direct Action. We all know that Direct Action is little more than a multibillion taxpayer funded slush fund for big polluters. It throws out the well-respected tenet of polluter pays and sends the bill to the taxpayer instead.

Economists and climate scientists agree that Direct Action is expensive, inefficient and completely unable to address climate change in any meaningful way. Even the Australian Industry Group recognises the sham that this policy is, estimating that it will cost between $100 billion and $250 billion if the government wants to reach its climate reduction targets using Direct Action. Clearly, this is not the way forward and, clearly, this government does not have a clue what is the way forward.

While the rest of the world is embracing the transition to low-carbon economies, Australia may find itself in an economic and environmental backwater through the government's refusal to accept climate reality. Let's be serious here. This climate policy of this government is dangerous. They have turned their backs on our global obligations, they have sold out our environment and they have levied the consequences of their recklessness on future generations of Australians.