Greens' climate change debate challenge to Hartsuyker

GREENS' candidate for Cowper Carol Vernon has challenged the long-standing local MP to a debate over climate change ahead of the upcoming Federal election.

GREENS' candidate for Cowper Carol Vernon has challenged the long-standing local MP to a debate over climate change ahead of the upcoming Federal election.

Mrs Vernon said the Coalition isn't serious about combatting climate change "despite the fact that their Direct Action policy proposes to make all of us pay the polluters not to pollute".

"I would be delighted to debate Mr Hartsuyker on the impact of the climate change policies he and Tony Abbott propose," Mrs Vernon said.

"The Labor candidate (Alfredo Navarro) is also welcome to try and defend Labor's policy, if he can be sure what Mr Rudd's policy is on any particular day."

As the Greens candidate for Cowper, Mrs Vernon said she supported the comments of her party's Senator Christine Milne when she said: "On climate change Tony Abbott is a denier, Kevin Rudd has back flipped and only the Greens can be trusted."

While issuing her challenge to Mr Hartsuyker, who's been the member for Cowper since 2001, Mrs Vernon raised a media statement released by Mr Hartsuyker's office earlier this week.

"Luke Hartsuyker restates the Coalition is committed to scrapping the carbon tax in his recent media release (and the leader of his Coalition, Tony Abbott, has mocked the same Emission Trading plan proposed by John Howard and previously agreed by the National/Liberal Coalition," she said.

Since announcing her candidacy in April, Mrs Vernon has strongly campaigned for support for the Greens when voting in the Senate rather than the House of Representatives.

When it comes to climate change, it is a message she's continuing to push.

"Only the Greens in the Senate can be trusted to keep the old parties honest. While they fight with each other we fight for what matters."