Grattan on Friday: Adam Bandt is wedged by Greens’ overreach on emissions legislation

Talk and discuss about mobile phone number list
Post Reply
misbahulalam
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2023 9:55 am

Grattan on Friday: Adam Bandt is wedged by Greens’ overreach on emissions legislation

Post by misbahulalam »

If Peter Dutton is caught in a classic rock-and-hard-place dilemma over the Voice to Parliament, the same could be said for Greens leader Adam Bandt on the safeguard legislation to underpin the government’s climate policy. The Greens are putting as a condition of supporting the bill – now before parliament – that the government commits to a ban on new coal and gas projects. They pitched for the ban when parliament was considering legislation for the 43% emissions reduction target, but the government stared them down and they ended up backing that bill. Now, the stakes are much higher – for both government and Greens. Help shape our Voice to Parliament coverage. The 43% target didn’t have to be law.

That was just icing on the cake. In contrast, the government needs the safeguard legislation – which forces the biggest polluters to reduce their emissions – to implement its policy. Reform of Australia’s emissions reduction regime is at the heart of Labor’s agenda. To be stymied on implementation would be a major setback. From the Country Email List Greens’ point of view, to have failed once to force the government’s hand can be brushed over. To fail twice risks making the party look impotent in the eyes of its supporters. It should be noted the Greens say they are not issuing an “ultimatum”, leaving themselves wriggle room for retreat. But their words are strong, and stepping back would be seen as precisely that.

Image

Just like the Liberals, the Greens have a base that is split between hardliners and moderates. At the radical end, their activists don’t want the party to compromise on core issues; in contrast, its mainstream voters want outcomes. The Greens have history on standing in the way of progress on climate policy, and the government is rubbing their noses in their past. Greens opposition killed the Rudd government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (when their vote suddenly became significant after a leadership upheaval in the Liberals). Their explanation is that it “was bad policy that would have locked in failure to take action on climate change.
Post Reply