‘It makes our life easier’: Climate campaigns seize on Dutton’s refusal to set target

Climate change groups are scaling up their campaigns against Liberal candidates in key federal seats after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton refused to commit to a 2030 target to cut greenhouse gas emissions, raising the stakes in an election fight on the environment.

Dutton dismissed the “teal” independents as fronts for the Greens and said he could win back their seats with his stance on climate change, setting up a crucial test in the former blue-ribbon Liberal electorates now held by crossbench MPs.

“Australians are struggling to pay their power bills, and yet the prime minister is wanting to sign us up to an arrangement that’s going to massively increase the price of electricity,” Dutton said of the climate target.

Dutton said he was committed to reducing emissions to net zero levels by 2050 but would not sign up to a 2030 target or a revised 2035 target later this year, saying the Coalition policy goal would be set after the election if it formed government.

Campaign donor Climate 200, which spent $6 million to help independent candidates at the last election, said Dutton’s new stance would help it win votes in Liberal electorates where voters want action on climate change.

“He’s effectively pulled out of the Paris Agreement – the Coalition cannot reach net zero by 2050 with his current stance. And he wants to backslide on 2030, which we can’t do,” said Climate 200 convenor Simon Holmes à Court.

Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes à Court.Credit: Kristoffer Paulsen

“Morrison pretended to care about climate change. Dutton is not even pretending. It makes our life easier when he nails his colours to the mast.”

The government set a target in law last year to reduce Australia’s emissions by 43 per cent by 2030 but is facing significant doubts about whether its policies will reach that target because of delays to major renewable energy projects and the construction of new transmission lines.

Dutton slammed the 2030 target in an interview in The Australian published on Saturday but did not name an alternative, leading to days of debate before he confirmed on Tuesday that he would not commit to a target before the election.

Australian National University Professor Mark Howden said Australia would be in breach of the Paris Agreement if it abandoned the 2030 target and did not have a viable pathway to reduce emissions.

While Liberal frontbenchers have backed Dutton’s stance, some MPs expressed concern that it would cost the party votes in urban electorates in Melbourne, Sydney and south-east Queensland.

“I don’t know what seats we are hoping to win with that position,” said Bridget Archer, the Liberal member for Bass in northern Tasmania.

Archer said the government had legislated the 2030 target and any proposal to change that target should be put to voters before the election.

Other Liberal MPs unwilling to speak on the record said the policy should have been discussed more widely before Dutton ruled out a 2030 target, given the way his policy could weaken support in city seats.

Member for Kooyong Dr Monique Ryan during a press conference on gas exports last month.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Dutton singled out independent Monique Ryan, the member for Kooyong in Melbourne, as part of an attack on the teal MPs on climate and other issues.

“Monique Ryan is a Green. She’s not a disaffected Liberal, she’s a Green. I think she’s completely disconnected with where families are in Kooyong at the moment,” Dutton said.

“It’s absolutely certain that Monique Ryan would support Anthony Albanese in a minority government. So, a vote for Monique Ryan is a vote for Anthony Albanese, and similarly in a number of other teal seats as well.

Illustration: Matt Golding

“So, I think we can win those seats back.”

Ryan said Dutton was undermining confidence in new industries, such as hydrogen and critical minerals, because he could not commit to a 2030 target.

“It makes a mockery of democracy if Peter Dutton thinks he can go to the next election without telling us what arguably his most important policy is,” she said. “My community wants strong climate action and sensible economic management. They’re not getting either from Peter Dutton at the moment.”

The draft redistribution in Victorian electorates, revealed earlier this month, has raised Liberal hopes about regaining Kooyong. However, it has made Liberal seats such as Casey, Deakin and Menzies harder for the party to hold at the next election, according to analysis by ABC election analyst Antony Green and others.

In Queensland, a campaign group moved last weekend to field an independent to take on the Liberals in the seat of McPherson where former cabinet minister Karen Andrews will retire at the election.

The head of the McPherson Independent Group, Malcolm Edgar, said Dutton’s remarks on the 2030 target would help the campaign after the previously “ambiguous” position from the Liberals about the target.

“It’s great that he’s bringing the conversation to the forefront,” he said.

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