Climate changes: Labor push to lighten green policies

Anthony Albanese yesterday warned Labor could try to block the government’s full $158bn in income tax cuts.

Labor leader contender and member for Grayndler Anthony Albanese. Picture: AAP

Labor is considering rejecting Scott Morrison’s mandate to ­deliver his full $158 billion in personal income tax cuts while flagging a dramatic shift on climate change policy and adopting a Tony Abbott-style “direct action” plan to cut carbon emissions.

Incoming ALP leader Anthony Albanese yesterday warned that Labor could try to block the government’s full $158bn in income tax cuts in a move that could force the government to split the bill or rely on crossbench support to get it through the Senate. Mr Albanese, who is expected to take the Labor leadership unopposed on Monday, said he would support the first stage of the government’s tax cuts, but refused to immediately ­endorse stages two and three of the plan, which favour higher-­income earners and commence on July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2024, ­respectively.

“Can I say very clearly that we are prepared to support the first tranche, which was about low and middle-income earners, and so the government shouldn’t play politics with this,” he said.

“The idea that you make a decision in 2019 about what happens in the middle of the next decade is quite frankly a triumph of hope over experience and reality.

“The truth is that our inter­national global economic circumstance is very vulnerable.”

The warning came as Labor ­environment spokesman Tony Burke suggested the party needed to rethink its support for market-based mechanisms to cut carbon emissions, after its plan to use of international carbon credits to cut emissions was rejected by voters amid a row over the cost of the ­policy.

“The Right and the environmental movement have shifted to a direct action model,” Mr Burke told the ABC.

“Every other theory will tell you it is less efficient, and it is less efficient. But we are heading down the path now, once we get to the end of the next term, we will have had inaction for the past 15 years and that is not counting the 12 years the Howard government did nothing.

“We now need to be at the table of working through what are the other ways of reaching targets ­beyond simply saying we’ll have a market mechanism.”

Labor became bogged down in the election campaign over its ­“uncosted” plan to lower carbon emissions by 45 per cent by 2030, while Mr Morrison had a $3.5bn direct action plan to cut emissions by 26 per cent.

Labor’s first major decision following its disastrous election loss will be whether to support the ­government’s tax cuts from its April 2 budget.

The government hopes to bring the legislation to a vote before the current Senate dissolves on June 30, where it needs the support of nine of 10 crossbenchers if Labor and the Greens oppose the bills.

The new Senate, which will be sworn in after July 1, is looking more favourable for the government, which will need to gain the support of only four of six crossbenchers to pass legislation.

Josh Frydenberg warned Labor against defying the will of the ­people.