G20 host’s fury over Barack Obama jab on climate and coal

THE Queensland government is incensed over what it sees as an ill-informed, insulting speech from Barack Obama about climate change.

THE Queensland government, as host of last weekend’s G20 ­summit, is incensed over what it sees as an ill-informed, insulting speech from Barack Obama about climate change, the Great Barrier Reef and coal.

Federal Coalition members are also angry at the US President’s public intervention in the Australian climate change debate at the G20 last Saturday, when most of his remarks in the summit’s closed session on energy, where the issue was discussed, were devoted to US gas supplies and production that have been boosted by coal-seam gas and shale oil.

Tony Abbott told the G20 session that the “four-fifths” of the ­developed world that had used fossil fuels for economic growth could not now deny “the other fifth” ­access to coal to generate electricity for the hundred million people who were without it.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi picked up on the theme yesterday in his speech to federal parliament, calling for new-generation energy “that does not cause our glaciers to melt”.

Senior Queensland government MPs are so angry at Mr Obama’s remarks about the Great Barrier Reef and his attack on coal production in a resources state that they are considering a formal complaint.

However, it is unlikely this will happen as informal messages were sent to the US delegation, ­declaring the President’s speech was not in keeping with that of a guest and ally.

What most angered Newman government MPs was that the state had “bent over backwards” to find a venue and audience in keeping with Mr Obama’s late request to speak to a large number of young people.

The University of Queensland, where Mr Obama spoke on Saturday, was outside the secure area in the Brisbane CBD and added greatly to the inconvenience for city residents.

Senior Queensland government sources said yesterday that Mr Obama had been welcomed and accommodated but he then cited contentious claims about the Great Barrier Reef and adopted ­arguments against coal in a mining state.

Mr Obama said on Saturday that climate change “here in ­Australia” means “longer droughts, more wildfires” and “the incredible natural glory of the Great Barrier Reef is threatened”.

“I have not had a chance to go to the Great Barrier Reef and I want to come back, and I want my daughters to be able to come back, and I want them to be able to bring their daughters or sons to visit,” the President said.

He also said there should be support for the Green Climate Fund, to which he has pledged $3 billion, to help developing countries “leapfrog some of the dirty industries that powered our development; go straight to a clean-energy economy that allows them to grow, create jobs, and at the same time reduce their carbon pollution”.

On Sunday, Premier Campbell Newman said he was not about to “criticise our guest” but added that Mr Obama had relied on misinformation and he would tell US officials about what was “actually going on with the reef”.

A reference to the Green Climate Fund, of which Mr Abbott has been highly critical, was inserted into the final G20 communiqué after pressure from the US, the European Union, Japan and South Korea.

In the energy security session, where leaders were supposed to be limited to three-minute addresses, climate change was only discussed by a few leaders for a short time. Mr Obama concentrated his address on US energy production, particularly the US advantage of coal-seam gas. Russian President Vladimir Putin did not discuss climate change and talked only about energy security.

French President Francois Hollande, the host of the Paris climate change conference next year, spoke for eight minutes exclusively on climate change. Mr Modi talked of the need for access to electricity for the world’s poor.