Anthony Albanese has intervened in the stoush between his frontbench team on emissions reduction targets to declare he was proud Labor had “consistently supported strong action on climate change”.
The Opposition Leader sent a tweet while overseas in Honolulu, where he is attending the Australian American Leadership Dialogue.
“Am proud that (Labor) has consistently supported strong action on climate change based upon the science — and that action will not only protect our environment but is also good for the economy,” Mr Albanese tweeted.
Am proud that @AustralianLabor has consistently supported strong action on Climate Change based upon the science - and that action will not only protect our environment but is also good for our economy
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) October 9, 2019
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His tweet came after opposition climate change spokesman Mark Butler slapped down frontbencher Joel Fitzgibbon’s call for Labor to back the government’s 2030 emissions reduction target.
Mr Butler — a key ally of Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese — issued a blunt rebuff to Mr Fitzgibbon who said Labor should match the higher end of Scott Morrison’s target to reduce carbon emissions by 26-28 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030.
Mr Fitzgibbon is also shadow resources minister and his seat of Hunter was one of many in NSW and Queensland where workers in the coal industry have deserted the ALP.
But in a sign of the divisions within Labor, Mr Butler told The Australian that the Paris Agreements were a bedrock position for the ALP, even with the review into the year’s electoral wipeout still underway.
Mr Butler said Labor should not make any major decisions on its climate change policies while its internal review is underway and that any future policy changes must remain consistent with the Paris targets.
“We know that the government’s targets were not formed on the basis of advice but were dreamed up by Tony Abbott and if they were adopted around the world they would increase global warming by 3 degrees,” Mr Butler told The Australian.
“That’s why Labor has been consistently opposed to the target that is fundamentally inconsistent with the Paris agreement.”
Asked if the Fitzgibbon plan breached the Paris protocols, Mr Butler simply said: “Yes.”
“While Labor is reviewing all of our policies, we remain committed to the principles of the Paris Agreement,” he said.
“That means taking action to get global climate increases below 2 degrees and towards 1.5 degrees and having long term and medium targets that are consistent with that goal.”
The Fitzgibbon plan has won scant support within the party but senior MPs told The Australian that Mr Fitzgibbon was right that Labor needed to reconnect with traditional blue-collar voters in regions that had historically been reliant on coal.
However, one MP said that the policy review did not mean policy “fundamentals” were up for grabs.
“We are not going to walk away from Paris in the same way we are not going to walk away from fair workplace laws or Medicare,” one figure said.
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