Labor climate crisis: Mark Dreyfus fans ALP climate tension flames after Fitzgibbon exit

Labor MP Mark Dreyfus. Picture: Sean Davey

Divisions and brawling within Labor over climate change and energy policies are making ­Anthony Albanese’s challenge to Scott Morrison’s handling of the COVID-19 recession even more difficult.

On a day that Labor opposed one of the Coalition’s coronavirus recession bailouts aimed at helping young workers get off un­employment benefits, there was a desperate need for a clear message and for Labor to be free of distractions.

Instead, ALP frontbenchers confirmed there was an almighty fight in the opposition frontbench over energy policies, as Joel Fitzgibbon quit as Labor’s resources and agriculture spokesman.

Mark Dreyfus kept the brawl going by belittling Fitzgibbon and any supporters he has, accusing them of being out of step and representing only a handful of Labor people.

Simultaneously, Health Minister Greg Hunt was able to confirm that the Coalition’s biggest budget gamble — that a vaccine would be available to Australians before the end of next year — was happening, and ahead of time.

Thus, the Prime Minister was able to point to the economic recover­y next year being based on the Coalition’s dual approach to health and economic solutions to the COVID-19 recession.

While feigning cabinet confid­entiality, the opposition justice spokesman launched into Fitzgibbon and his “handful of supporters”, claiming they were out of step and had misread the result of the US presidential election.

“I’m serious,’’ Dreyfus said. “I’d say again: there’s a growing realisation that taking action on clim­ate is the direction that, not only Australia needs to go in, but the rest of the world is moving on.”

If Dreyfus truly believes there are only a “handful” of unionists, Labor supporters, voters and MPs who support Fitzgibbon’s position of a transition to renewable energy­ and gas from coal-fired power, he’s delusional.

The division between Labor voters, supporters and MPs over how to deal with the challenge of climate went a long way towards the ALP loss at the last election, has put pressure on Albanese and must be dealt with if Labor is to have any chance of winning the next election, particularly in Queensland.

Albanese is aware of the division and publicly talks about how he has to fight Greens in his inner-city electorate every day and at every election. He has also talked about the need to reconnect with traditional Labor voters who turned to the Liberal National Party in Queensland and conservative minority parties, such as One Nation, in regional areas.

More sensible heads than Dreyfus, such as former ACTU president and former Labor MP for the Illawarr­a’s industrial region­ Jennie George, recognised that “it’s not Joel Fitzgibbon who is ‘out of step’, but those in Labor’s caucus who fail to take note of the results of the last election”.

“I speak from experience, having­ faced the same issues as Joel when representing the steelmaking region of the Illawarra,” George wrote in a letter to The Australian. “Whatever policies are finally taken to the voters, they must be properly costed and the employment impacts quantified. Uncosted policies with feel-good targets is virtue signalling at its worst.’’

Instead of working with Fitzgibbon, the inner-city left elites of the ALP have pushed him out and marginalised the tradies, miners, farm workers and factory hands who see an immediate threat to their livelihoods and families.

And this is at a time when Alban­ese wants to change the conditions of the hiring credit scheme aimed at people younger than 35 in the name of helping workers, especially older workers, in areas with high employment.

Dreyfus may think he’s helping Albanese, but he’s not. He’s acting out Morrison’s claims that “ideological zealots” pushed Fitzgibbon to the backbench and that Labor is “turning its back on rural and regional Australia”.

What’s more, there is now one more group of dissatisfied Labor MPs to add to the others, who for various reasons, are grumpy about Labor not advancing on its losing position 18 months ago.