Andrew Leigh (Fenner, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

According to the energy minister, the Morrison government has 'strong targets, clear plans and an enviable track record' on reducing emissions. Some might take that at face value, but, coming from the minister that brought us 'Grassgate', 'Watergate' and 'Clovergate', I thought I'd see what some experts have to say. The NewClimate Institute ranked Australia dead-last out of 57 countries for climate policy. Climate Action Tracker say Australia's climate policies are 'insufficient' to meet the agreements we signed up to in Paris. Deloitte find that climate inaction will cost Australia $3 trillion and nearly one million jobs. The Investor Group on Climate Change estimates that three-quarters of Australia's trade is with countries that have pledged to reach net zero by mid-century, which we have not. The Climate Transparency report ranked Australia in the bottom bracket in every climate policy area but one, finding Australia had one of the highest shares of fossil fuel use, per-capita emissions three times the G20 average, and ranked highly for vulnerability to climate risk. The coalition government has had 22 energy policies in the last eight years, and the hopeless, hapless minister has no policies that will reduce emissions or power prices and deal with the catastrophic risk that faces Australia more than any other advanced nation.