Election 2022: Anthony Albanese’s climate message ‘welcomed’ by Quad leaders

Anthony Albanese has moved swiftly to underline Labor’s global position on climate change, saying the change has been ‘welcomed’ by the Quad leaders.

Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong in Tokyo this week. Picture: Getty Images

Anthony Albanese has moved swiftly to underline Labor’s ­global position on climate change, saying the move has been “welcomed” by the Quad leaders, particularly after “differences” emerged under the ­Morrison government.

After a whirlwind trip to the Quad security talks in Tokyo, the Prime Minister said there had been many “consistencies” in policy positions between Scott Morrison and the Biden ­administration, but he noted ­climate had been a point of ­disagreement.

“And the new government that I lead, its position was welcomed by the leaders of the ­US, Japan and India.

“I look forward to … building those relationships,” Mr Albanese said.

The comments came just a day after Mr Albanese put ­climate change at the centre of his regional security message to the Quad leaders, President Joe Biden, ­Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

After a decade of climate change warring, the Prime Minister said Australians could be ­assured that Labor would place the pressing need to ­address rising global temperatures at the heart of its global ­diplomacy.

“I will always act with honesty in my dealings with other leaders and our friends and partners, and I will do my best every day whether it be on domestic or international issues, including the need to act on climate change, to make sure that Australia will have a government it can be proud of,” Mr Albanese said.

In a joint statement released on Tuesday night, the Quad leaders launched a shared package in response to the “immense challenges posed by climate change to the island nations of the Pacific”.

They also vowed to accelerate efforts to “raise global ambition” by supporting, strengthening and enhancing climate action.

After being elected on a more ambitious mid-term emissions reduction target of 43 per cent, Mr Albanese’s swift climate pivot on the global stage has placed more scrutiny on whether the Coalition will follow suit.

As prominent NSW Liberal moderate Andrew Bragg called for the party to adopt more ­ambitious emissions “reduction signals” at 2030 and 2040, ­Nationals senator Matt Canavan said cost of living, rather than ­climate, had been the source of the Coalition’s electoral woes.

“At this election, the top concern was the cost of living, not ­climate change, but we failed to prosecute that because we signed up to net zero,” he told Sky News.

“We couldn’t really point out the cost of crazy radical envir­onmental action and because we failed to do that, we lost ­government.”

Speaking from Tokyo before returning to Australia, Mr Albanese also said he was looking ­forward to working on the “structure and personnel” of the incoming government, ahead of his full ministry appointment next week.