Labor looks to revise carbon emissions target
Opposition Resources spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon will call on Labor to ditch its ambitious carbon emissions target and instead adopt the government’s, saying a “sensible settlement” would help lower power prices.
National
Don't miss out on the headlines from National. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A federal Labor frontbencher will call on his party to match the Morrison government’s carbon emissions reduction target.
Resources spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon wants Labor to lower its target to the higher end of the Coalition’s, according to an advance copy of his speech to be delivered in Sydney on Wednesday.
This would see Labor aim for a 28 per cent reduction of 2005 levels by 2030. The Opposition went to the federal election this year with a 45 per cent carbon emissions reduction target, while the Liberals set a 26-28 per cent reduction goal.
According to The Australian, Mr Fitzgibbon will tell the Sydney Institute the government would be forced to act if the two parties were in agreement on a carbon reduction goal.
“The Prime Minister has largely avoided scrutiny and accountability on this subject because all the focus has been on Labor’s more ambitious targets,” Mr Fitzgibbon will say.
MORE NEWS:
Satellites link KitKats to illegal deforestation
Coles’ new push to change the way we eat
New vaping warning as illness cases soar
Acquitted terror dad’s new Aussie life
If there was policy certainty, investment confidence in the energy sector would return and power prices would drop.
“Labor needs to reach a sensible settlement on climate change. How many times are we going to let it kill us? Indeed, how many Leaders do we want to lose to it,” Mr Fitzgibbon will say.
A less ambitious target would allow Labor to be “more ambitious on the road to 2050”.
He will also reflect on party’s election loss, saying Labor “confused and scared” the electorate and underestimated Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The party also needed to reconnect with its blue-collar base.
“Labor can’t win an election without dramatically improving its performance in the bush,” Mr Fitzgibbon will say.
“That, as I’ve argued in my submission to Labor’s election review committee, will require new thinking and significant cultural change. We need to respond to a changing world but also learn to be patient and pragmatic. We need to take the electorate with us; that’s what strong leadership is all about.
“Leadership is also about remembering who we represent: working people, first and foremost, those who built our great movement. We must check our progressive instincts when they risk offending people of faith.”
Labor also opened itself up to a scare campaign with its economic policies, Mr Fitzgibbon will say.
“Scott Morrison’s main cut-through message throughout the election campaign, and since, has been a promise to keep things just as they are,” Mr Fitzgibbon will say.
“And in the midst of Labor’s busy and confusing messaging, it worked.”
Labor’s “path to success” at the next federal election in 2022 would not be “a track to the right, back to the sensible centre”.
Originally published as Labor looks to revise carbon emissions target