‘Absolute joke’: Peter Dutton urged to dump Paris Agreement and follow Trump’s big move

Rebel MPs are urging Peter Dutton to dump the Paris Agreement in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s big move to scrap the global climate change deal.

Rebel Liberal MPs are urging Peter Dutton to dump the Paris Agreement describing it as “an absolute joke” in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s big move to scrap the global climate change deal.

Predicting a worldwide shift against “woke” agendas and the current climate change deal, South Australian Senator Alex Antic and Queensland Nationals Senator Matt Canavan have told news.com.au that it was “encouraging” to see the US President dump the Paris agreement in one of his acts.

US President Donald Trump holds letter to the UN stating the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement during the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena, in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)

The Paris Agreement came into force in 2016. It aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit temperature increase to 1.5 degrees.

But the decision of the US President to dump the agreement for a second time has changed the game according to Coalition critics.

“Although we possess the highest energy reserves per capita on the planet, Australian families and businesses are suffering from an energy crisis which is the construct of faux inner-city intellectuals,’’ Senator Alex Antic told news.com.au.

Rebel Liberal MPs, including Senators Alex Antic and Matt Canavan (pictured), are pushing for Peter Dutton to abandon the Paris Agreement, labelling it ‘an absolute joke’ following Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the deal. Picture: Dan Peled / NCA NewsWire

“Australia accounts for just over 1 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions and the country’s pursuit of the feckless net zero agenda simply does not make sense.

“It is more than encouraging to see President Trump withdraw from the Paris Agreement and it is my view that Australia would do well to follow.”

National Senator Matt Canavan, a long-time critic of the Paris climate change accord, said the reasons to get out have only increased.

“The cost to us of maintaining our obsession with net zero emissions is only going to grow after today,’’ Senator Canavan told news.com.au.

Senator Alex Antic. The Paris Agreement, enacted in 2016, aims to limit global temperature increases, but critics argue Australia’s commitment is not justifiable given its minimal carbon emissions contribution. Picture: NewsWire/ Richard Gosling

“It’s already costing us a bomb. But with the US, the most vibrant, biggest economy in the world, being outside that agreement will just be a massive magnet for investment in jobs that could only make Australia poorer.

“I obviously thought that before today, but after today, that both the costs of staying in this agreement in Paris are higher for Australia and the benefits are a lot lower. The question has to be asked now, what are the benefits like? There is clearly a cost for us being in it. What is that actually going to do to the environment when the world’s biggest economy is no longer in the agreement, when the world’s biggest admit of China is actively flaunting any stated goal to reach net zero.

“What’s the point here? This is an absolute joke.”

Donald Trump’s big move

Donald Trump approved nine executive orders in a signing-ceremony held on stage in front of a packed audience and there were massive cheers as Mr Trump signed the order to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Accord.

It’s the second time he’s scrapped the deal. He also announced it during his first term of government.

Canavan argues that staying in the agreement will increasingly burden Australia while undermining investment opportunities, especially with the US exiting. Picture: Roni Bintang/Getty Images

Trump announced his intent to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement in 2017. It wasn’t formalised until November 4, 2020, a day after the presidential election that Biden ultimately won.

On the first day of his term, Biden announced his intent to re-enter the Paris Agreement.

Then, on the first day of Trump’s second term on January 21, 2025, Trump ordered the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

Dutton accused of planning to break Australia’s commitment to Paris climate agreement

Peter Dutton remains committed to the Paris agreement but has been accused of planning to break it after he said he would reject the country’s 2030 greenhouse gas reduction target arguing there was “no sense in signing up to targets you don’t have any prospect of achieving”.

The government insists Australia is on track to achieve a 42 per cent reduction – still short of its 43 per cent target. But some analysts have said it will likely fall short.

Peter Dutton faces accusations of planning to break commitments to the Paris Agreement by rejecting Australia’s 2030 greenhouse gas reduction target, citing unachievable goals. Picture: NewsWire / David Geraghty

The shadow energy minister, Ted O’Brien, has insisted that the Coalition remained committed to the Paris agreement.

“The Coalition is absolutely committed to the Paris agreement and we’re also committed to net zero,” O’Brien told ABC Radio National. “There’s no doubt targets are important but they have to be well informed and they have to be achievable … Of course we will be signing up, in government, to targets, not just net zero.”

Albo slams Dutton as ‘worse than Scott Morrison’ on climate change

Anthony Albanese has previously slammed Peter Dutton as “worse than Scott Morrison on climate change” after the Coalition signalled it will not support the Labor government’s 2030 net zero emissions target.

“Peter Dutton is walking away from climate action,” Mr Albanese said.

“His decision to abandon the 2030 target means him walking away from the Paris Accords. If you walk away from the Paris Accords, you’ll be standing with Libya, Yemen, and Iran, and against all of our major trading partners and all of our important allies.”