Practical, low-key policy for emissions abatement

Even before Scott Morrison announced a $2 billion boost for direct action on climate change, a group of Liberal MPs were pushing for a broader suite of environmental policies ahead of the election, including more funding for renewables. The concerns of Victorian MPs Russell Broadbent and Tim Wilson, NSW MP Trent Zimmerman and West Australian senator Dean Smith are no surprise. Their views are part of a political dilemma that affects both sides of politics. Australia, as Paul Kelly wrote on Saturday, is convulsed by a contradictory identity: we are a fossil fuel-endowed nation enriched by resources, including coal, which returns $67bn a year, funding schools, hospitals and paying down the deficit. Against that, a middle-class moralism has emerged, intent on climate change action. It is evidence of a truly complacent country, as Kelly noted, where significant opinion rejects its main export industry. Much of the divide is along geographic lines, with voters in regional areas more supportive of fossil fuels, especially coal, and many in well-heeled inner-urban electorates, Liberal or Labor, favouring the increased use of renewables, regardless of the cost to consumers.

Today, the Prime Minister will attempt to position the Coalition as the party of “practical” climate change action that protects jobs and helps groups such as farmers and small businesses, without wrecking the economy. This moderate, steady approach will not placate those demanding more radical and costly action. But it has much to recommend it. According to the government, Australia has beaten its emissions target for 2020 by 367 million tonnes and the excess savings will be carried forward towards the more ambitious 2030 target. The Coalition’s Emissions Reduction Fund is well regarded internationally and has delivered more than 193 million tonnes of emissions reductions through 477 projects. The government’s $2bn will replenish the fund for the next decade, enabling it to assist farmers to drought-proof and revegetate degraded land; help small businesses to replace inefficient refrigeration, airconditioning and lighting; increase recycling; and support indigenous groups in reducing the risk of serious bushfire, creating jobs in the country. As environment editor Graham Lloyd points out, Australia has the potential to build an international industry to support carbon abatement through better land management.

While many swinging voters will be sceptical about “direct action’’ to meet Australia’s 2030 emissions reduction target, Mr Morrison’s position will be helped by the effects of Labor’s 45 per cent emissions reduction target on wages and power. Reliability of supply and affordability are vital. As reported last week, when Brian Fisher, former head of the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, crunched the numbers, he found Labor’s approach would push electricity prices 50 per cent higher, cost workers up to $9000 a year in lower wages and wipe $472bn from the economy over the next decade. Labor’s policy would also result in 336,000 fewer jobs in 2030. Bill Shorten is yet to show this would not be the case.

Australia, which produces 1.3 per cent of global emissions, is one of a small group of OECD countries ahead of 2020 reduction targets. But Mr Morrison faces a major task convincing many in his own party, and the wider electorate, especially in the cities, that the steady, slow approach — enhanced by technological developments as they unfold to make renewable energy more affordable — will best protect Australia’s jobs and living standards.