Stop using Trump-like tactics on climate change, independent MPs warn Dutton

Teal independents have accused Peter Dutton of putting the country’s economic and environmental future at risk by abandoning the Paris Agreement, while sharpening their pre-election attack lines on the Liberal Party as it seeks to win back wealthy seats in the capital cities.

Independents Allegra Spender, Monique Ryan and Zoe Daniel said Dutton’s decision to ditch Australia’s 2030 targets to cut emissions by 43 per cent while promising to achieve net zero by 2050 would push investment out of the country to nations that recognised the environmental risks.

Independent MPs Allegra Spender (left), Monique Ryan (back) and Zoe Daniel, and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.Credit: Marija Ercegovac

Dutton told The Australian newspaper on Saturday that he would take a radically different energy policy to the next election, with a focus on natural gas in the short term with a longer-term commitment to nuclear power.

“There’s no sense in signing up to targets you don’t have any prospect of achieving,” he said, in reference to the government’s 2030 target.

The government said it was already on track for a 42 per cent reduction in emissions, before policies that were included in last month’s budget.

Spender, the MP for Wentworth in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, described Dutton’s plan as reckless. It would add 2.3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere over the next five years.

She said withdrawing from the Paris Agreement would destroy Australia’s international reputation and investor confidence in the country.

“I’m really concerned about the impact of this on business confidence and business investment,” she told this masthead.

“This isn’t just a disaster for the environment, this is an economic disaster that would deliver long-term problems.”

Last week, Dutton visited Ryan’s seat of Kooyong in Melbourne, which she won from then treasurer Josh Frydenberg at the 2022 election.

Ryan said Dutton did not mention his change in policy during the visit, knowing that the people of Kooyong would have deep concerns about such a “ridiculous” position that appeared to be driven by the Nationals and elements of the fossil-fuels industry.

Kooyong MP Monique Ryan says voters will see through the Coalition’s plans on energy.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

She said abandoning the 2030 target while focusing on nuclear power would effectively stall investment now under way nationally in renewables and critical minerals.

“I think moderate members of the Liberal Party will have real problems with this. It just brings into question his [Dutton’s] leadership,” she said.

Zoe Daniel, who won the neighbouring Melbourne seat of Goldstein from Liberal Tim Wilson, said Dutton was trying to reignite the political war over climate change on the back of policy backsliding and a “campaign of misinformation”.

“I doubt the Goldstein community will take kindly to Mr Dutton spouting unedited lines out of the [Donald] Trump playbook, blaming migrants for every problem from congestion to pressure on the health system while following Trump’s example of pulling out of Paris,” she said.

“The choice for those who voted out Liberals to elect independents will be very clear at the next election – do you want positive, forward-focused, reasoned and collaborative policymakers or do you want to return to the politics of fear where everything from climate to immigration is weaponised?”

The opposition’s plan would break from the terms of the Paris Agreement, which demands signatories increase their emissions goal every five years. The Albanese government is committed to set a 2035 target by February.

The plan is also at odds with findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – the United Nations’ expert science body – that fossil fuels must be rapidly phased out to meet the Paris Agreement. The Abbott government signed Australia to the agreement in 2015.

Liberal frontbencher David Coleman said the Coalition would make clear its emissions policy by the next election, which is expected in May next year.

Independent MP Zoe Daniel says Coalition voters in her part of Melbourne are unlikely to be swayed by Dutton’s proposals.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

He told ABC television that the Coalition was still committed to the Paris Agreement and to reaching net zero by 2050, saying the government’s own 2030 target could not be met.

“We are absolutely committed to the 2050 target and to the Paris Agreement, but we won’t maintain a Chris Bowen fantasy when it plainly won’t happen. Why would we?” he said on Sunday.

But Bowen, the climate change minister, said under the Coalition’s plans, emissions would climb, power bills would increase, and Australia risked being ignored by investors who were prepared to sink cash into net zero projects.

“If you take Australia out of the Paris accord, by reducing your targets or not having one, you are sending the message to investors around the world that you’re not open for business, that you want to be considered alongside Libya, Iran and Yemen,” he said.

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