Climate change bill: Barbs fly between northern beaches MPs Zali Steggall and Jason Falinski
Warringah MP Zali Steggall and Mackellar MP Jason Falinski are at loggerheads after he criticised her new climate change bill as a “road to dictatorship”, while she hit back saying he has “misrepresented” it.
Manly
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A war of words has broken out between two northern beaches MPs after Zali Steggall’s new climate change bill was criticised as “unconstitutional” by Mackellar MP Jason Falinski and she accused him of “misrepresenting” it.
Ms Steggall, an independent, released details of the bill last week, which she said seeks to set out a clear framework for national plans on combating climate change, to be put in place and for progress to be rigorously monitored and reported.
On her Climate Act Now website 53,000 people have registered support for the bill so far including 3800 in Warringah and more than 1000 in Mackellar.
On Wednesday, Mr Falinksi, a Liberal MP, told the Manly Daily the bill was about setting up a body that can direct parliament and therefore it was a “road to dictatorship”.
He said he wasn’t trying to accuse Ms Steggall of being a dictator, but “that was the principle”.
He said he would prefer to see a road map which set out a plan to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 which can be adapted as new technology comes into play, meaning emissions are cut, not jobs.
“I want it to be led by technology advancements and progress,” he said.
“We don’t want to cut emissions and jobs, we just want to cut emissions.”
Earlier, in an 800 word opinion piece Mr Falinski wrote with Liberal colleague MP Tim Wilson, he said the bill would create a “climate change czar with wide-ranging powers to dictate government policy” and would make “parliament beholden to an unelected body”.
He added that would be a “subversion of our democracy and sovereignty” and also “arguably unconstitutional”.
However, this week Ms Steggall responded strongly saying both MPs were “completely incorrect”.
“They have misrepresented what the bill does,” she said.
She said the bill proposed setting up a climate change commission, “an independent body that advises government”.
She also responded to Mr Falinski’s accusations that a commission would be replicating the work of the Climate Change Authority, a body already in place to advise government policy, but which Ms Steggall said was essentially a toothless tiger.
“The current Climate Change Authority was gutted of power under my predecessor Tony Abbott,” she said.
“The bill provides for the implementing of a strong independent climate change commission and repealing the authority because it’s a body that is not able to effectively operate and protect the Australian interest.”
She also emphasised that the commission would appoint people approved by the joint Parliamentary committee.
Mr Falinski called the bill “just politics”, but Ms Steggall said it was about “trying to take the partisan politics out of this and make this bipartisan approach to climate policy, the way the UK has”.
On March 23, Ms Steggall will introduce a private member’s bill to parliament and call for a
conscience vote.
Mr Falinski said as it stands he can’t support the bill but would be meeting with Ms Steggall next week to discuss it.
She said she had extended an invitation to all MPs for her to give a briefing on the bill.
Warringah’s new Liberal spokesman NSW Senator Andrew Bragg confirmed he would be requesting a briefing from Ms Steggall.