I’m off to save planet, says Christine Milne

Christine Milne says there is no chance of Australian action on climate change and she must fight elsewhere.

Retiring Greens leader Christine Milne. Picture: Ray Strange

Christine Milne has shed more light on her resignation as leader of the Greens, revealing she ­believes there is no chance of ­immediate Australian action on climate change — her driving ambition — and that she must take the fight elsewhere.

Senator Milne, who stepped down on Wednesday, told The Weekend Australian that she ­believed the world had only five years in which to prevent “runaway global warming” yet efforts in Canberra appeared futile.

A key player in the introduction of the abandoned Gillard carbon tax, Senator Milne said yesterday that the Greens would continue to push the issue.

“But the reality here is that with an Abbott government you are not going to get progress on anything that is sensible when it comes to reducing emissions or driving the economy towards a low-carbon economy,” she said.

“Of course, it would be great to think there could be breakthroughs on climate and if the (Greens) I’m leaving behind could actually achieve that I’d be the first one to be thrilled to bits.

“But the reality is that, as I’ve been saying since 2005, we only have until 2020 at the latest to turn this around at a global level or we are going to pass tipping point and … be in runaway global warming.”

She repeated her earlier key reason for resignation — that at almost 62 she felt unable to commit to another six-year Senate term — but suggested it was also influenced by her desire to make a difference on climate change.

“Between 2015 and 2020, we have to do this job and it won’t be done in Australia and in an Abbott government, and so therefore you have to look at where you can have your biggest influence. I hope to make a contribution outside the parliament.

“How and where that will be I don’t yet know, but I will have my shoulder to the wheel on climate.”

Senator Milne, credited by colleagues as knowing more about climate policy than any other federal MP, could work with non-government organisations to push the case for more radical action.

Her comments on the need to take the fight beyond Australia points to an overseas role. She has been a regular speaker at UN Framework Convention on Climate Change conferences, among other global forums.