Australian Greens: A fruitful month

It’s been a fruitful month beginning our work in the new Parliament, with the Greens improving and then backing the passage of Labor’s Climate Change Bill in the House. But our work doesn’t end there – particularly because Labor continues to back both new coal and gas projects, and the stage three tax cuts for the wealthy.

By Adam Bandt

G’day Greens,

So much has happened since we last spoke – it has been a fruitful month beginning our work in the new Parliament.

As you likely would have heard, we pushed the new government to improve and pass the Climate Change Bill. We secured the following improvements to the Bill:

• The target can be lifted: we ensured that there’s a mechanism to ratchet up the target over time;
• They can’t go lower than 43 percent. We Dutton-proofed the Bill against a future government lowering the target;
• The Climate Change Authority now has strengthened reporting requirements, and we’ve improved the transparency and accountability of this report, and;
• We’ve made it much more difficult for funding bodies, like Export Finance Australia, to fund coal and gas projects.

These are all vital improvements, and we made the decision to pass the Bill. The real test for Labor, and where we turn our attention now, is what they decide to do with new coal and gas projects.

Labor now has to make rules about how pollution will be cut in order to reach their climate targets. Part of the way they will do that is through the so-called safeguard mechanism, which sets a baseline limit on how much pollution will need to be cut by big polluting facilities.

These rules will need the Senate’s backing – where the Greens hold the balance of power. We’ll be fighting to ensure the safeguard mechanism deals with new coal and gas – which will blow even the weak 43 percent target if they proceed. A mechanism that lets you open up 114 new coal and gas projects would be a recipe for climate collapse.

Greens to attend the Jobs Summit

We’ll be attending the Jobs Summit next month, where we’ll fight to stop Labor’s tax cuts for billionaires and the very wealthy.

Labor is spending $224 billion on stage three tax cuts, and in this cost of living crisis that’s unconscionable.

Labor could use that money to deliver immediate cost of living relief: we could have free childcare, dental in Medicare, wipe student debt and build housing instead.

Labor needs to decide whether to show up for the people, or give tax cuts to billionaires like Clive Palmer. The Greens will be at the Jobs Summit fighting for a better life for everyone.

Yours faithfully in the fight,

Adam.

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