Chris Bowen accuses Scott Morrison of being ‘toxic’ with climate policy during National Press Club address

Scott Morrison has been accused of once ‘sneering’ at a key concern of people who frequent city wine bars until he needed their votes.

The Prime Minister has been accused of once “sneering” at the environmental concerns of people who frequent “city wine bars”.

In a major address to the National Press Club, opposition climate change spokesperson Chris Bowen said there had been a “toxic but effective” fear campaign in Australia about the economic cost of climate action.

“In a crowded field, the tactics of Scott Morrison at the last election win the prize for being the low point of sophistry and toxicity,” he said.

“Australians were told that tackling climate change would come at a cost to the economy of billions of dollars instead of being treated to a genuine contest of ideas about how to lead the transition to renewable energy.

“The Australian people were subjected to weeks of disinformation about how action would cost their jobs, their community and even their weekend.”

Chris Bowen says there has been a ‘toxic’ fear campaign about climate action in Australia. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Mr Bowen said Mr Morrison had now “sniffed the winds of political change”, with many voters fed up on climate change inaction, and was worried about losing urban seats.

He claimed Mr Morrison had once “sneered” at the climate concerns of people who frequented city wine bars before realising he now needed their votes.

“And now all of a sudden, worried about their urban seats, these characters announce a road to Damascus conversion, declaring that having divided Australians for so long, they are just the right people to unite us around the task of tackling our most urgent challenge: dealing with climate change,” Mr Bowen said.

Scott Morrison says Labor will partner with the Greens. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Labor on Friday unveiled a $600m plan to cut Australia’s emissions by 43 per cent by 2030.

The target falls just short of the 45 per cent target Labor took to the last election.

Labor claims it will create 600,000 jobs and cut household power bills by $275 a year by 2025.

“Let’s be frank. Our party has paid a big price in these climate wars,” Mr Bowen said.

“There are some keen observers who predicted that Labor would simply match the Coalition’s approach to climate to minimise the risk of yet another destructive scare campaign.

“The answer is not to eradicate our ambition, but to craft our policies to ensure that we can win the argument that climate action is an essential element to, not a brake on, economic growth and job creation.”

Mr Morrison has accused Labor of trying to downplay their actual climate plans, claiming they would team up with the Greens.

“Labor said at the last election and since the last election that they thought 45 per cent was the wrong decision, and apparently, 43 per cent is the right decision,” he told reporters on Monday.

“That is just the opening bid from Labor. For Labor to legislate, if they were to form government, they would have to do that with the support of the Greens.”

Mr Bowen was asked about whether the 43 per cent target was negotiable if it required the support of the Greens.

“No,” he answered.

Originally published as Chris Bowen accuses Scott Morrison of being ‘toxic’ with climate policy during National Press Club address