Bill Shorten says the mood on climate change has changed

Bill Shorten says his language on coal cost Labor at the election, but declared people’s focus on the issue had heightened.

Former Labor leader Bill Shorten says there is a new focus on climate change. Picture: AAP

Bill Shorten says the public mood on climate change action has changed after the catastrophic bushfire season and people have become more worried about the cost of policy inaction.

The former Labor leader acknowledged his language on coal and climate change cost Labor votes at the May election but declared people’s focus on the issue has heightened over summer.

He said his long-term rival Anthony Albanese was doing a “very good job” in balancing the focus on jobs and the need to reduce emissions.

“Climate change is a vexed issue in terms of the politics and we all know in terms of the policies and we all know how toxic it has got. But I do wonder if the terrible summer of bushfires that we had has perhaps changed some people’s perception of the cost of inaction,” Mr Shorten told Sky News.

“We know there are a whole lot of reason the bushfires took place and obviously fuel reduction is one but also we are having longer hotter summers than ever before.”

The opposition NDIS spokesman struggled to explain the cost of the party’s 45 per cent emissions reduction target and did not have a figure for the cost of policy inaction.

Mr Shorten, who played down the Otis Group as “chatter” and a “dinner”, reiterated his regret about failing to talk up the job creation opportunities of climate change action.

“Hindsight is a big thing and it is very valuable term. I do accept that some people in parts of regional Queensland, there was a perception that taking action on climate change was antagonistic to jobs,” he said.

“That is not a view I share but I accept we have got to do a lot better at emphasising the job benefits of taking action on climate change.”

He also blamed the Morrison government’s controversial allocation of sports grants as a reason Labor lost votes in marginal seats.

“In terms of the election I think one of the things that has now emerged is all the sports rorts,” he said.

“It is pretty scandalous that this government was able to carry on in the fashion it was using taxpayers money just to try and prop up their votes in marginal seats. So maybe that cost us some votes too. As we are seeing it turned out to be a misuse of taxpayer funds. Very unfair conduct.

“I do think that (Philip Gaetjens), Mr Morrison’s former chief of staff, needs to demonstrate his independence now he is in the role he is in and put out all the information on the report into sports rorts.”

Joyce: ‘I stood, I lost. That’s it’

Barnaby Joyce has moved to ease tensions within the Nationals, reaffirming his loyalty to Michael McCormack.

“There will be a McCormack-Morrison Government going to the next election, a McCormack-Morrison Government,” Mr Joyce told Sunrise.

“In a democracy you have the opportunity to test the numbers; that was tested, it was close. I stood, I lost, that’s it. Now we move on. I want a McCormack-Morrison government to do the very best job they can.”

Asked if he had been telling his supporters to stop pushing for another leadership spill against Mr McCormack, Mr Joyce said: “It’s not coming from me. I am not here to tell other people what to do.”

The government’s proposed target of zero emissions by 2050 has been rubbished by coalition partners.

MPs @Barnaby_Joyce and @FitzHunter joined Sam and Kochie to discuss. pic.twitter.com/uVdt7RfQaf

— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) February 16, 2020

“In a democracy we have got to celebrate the capacity to be able to make choices. The choice is made. But now it’s dealt with. It is two years out from the election, people have made the choice, we stick with the choice.

“It’s going to be a McCormack-Morrison Government that goes to the election and I will be making sure that McCormack-Morrison has the very best chance of winning because otherwise we are going to have another version of Bernie Sanders or Jeremy Corbyn — only this time it will be called ‘Anthony Albanese going to save the planet from Canberra’.”

Meanwhile, shadow agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon has played down the significance of a pro-coal rebel group within the Labor Party, saying his views supporting coal mining jobs were shared by Anthony Albanese.

Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Resources, Joel Fitzgibbon. Picture: AAP

Asked about the Otis Group — Labor politicians who support mining and meet for dinner at the Otis restaurant in Canberra — Mr Fitzgibbon said: “I dine with people all the time in Canberra.”

“(They are) people who are determined to see off this government. And determined to install a Labor government led by Anthony Albanese, a government determined to vote for the aspirations of working class people. That’s what I’m all about,” he told Sunrise.

Asked what party leader Anthony Albanese’s view of the Otis group was, given the group was hidden from him, Mr Fitzgibbon said: “Well Albo, like me, is determined to win the next election and he like me knows that we’ll only win if aspirational working class people know the Labor Party has their back. That is what I’m determined to ensure and therefore determined to win the next election.”

On the topic of net zero emissions by 2050, Mr Fitzgibbon said: “We want to find a consensus on this climate change issue, we want to land in a place which demonstrates to the world that we are taking meaningful action on climate change in a way that doesn’t forsake our economy and jobs. That’s what I’m about, that’s what Anthony Albanese is all about. We see opportunity here.”