Joel Fitzgibbon quits shadow cabinet, says Anthony Albanese, Labor must pivot on climate change

Joel Fitzgibbon says Anthony Albanese can win next election: if he listens to him on climate change. But Albanese isn’t budging.

Labor’s Joel Fitzgibbon. Picture: Milan Scepanovic

Rogue Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon says he will only challenge for the Labor leadership if he is drafted and says he regrets not running for the top job after the 2019 election loss.

Mr Fitzgibbon quit shadow cabinet on Tuesday morning will join the backbench, after months of public freelancing on climate policy.

Mr Fitzgibbon says a substantial number of Labor MPs share his concerns on the Opposition’s approach to climate change, but he does not expect to be drafted and Anthony Albanese will lead the party to the next election.

And he says Anthony Albanese will win the next election if he listens to him and adopts a more restrained climate change policy.

Albanese won’t budge on emissions target

But at Question Time on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Albanese refused to budge from his 2050 net zero carbon emissions target, as he thanked the Mr Fitzgibbon for his service.

Mr Albanese said Labor will take a net zero 2050 target and will not reveal their plans on 2030 until later this parliamentary term.

“The position is clear. We have net zero emissions by 2050. And we will have a complete announcement, including how we get there, before the election,” Mr Albanese said in Canberra.

“You’ll have plenty of time before the election to transact exactly what it all means, to go through all of that. And, quite frankly, what you should be doing is holding this Government to account.”

Driven out by ideological zealots: PM

PM Scott Morrison said Mr Fitzgibbon had been driven out of Mr Albanese’s shadow cabinet by pro-climate action “ideological zealots.”

The Prime Minister used Mr Fitzgibbon’s resignation over climate targets to attack the Opposition Leader’s climate targets in question time and jokingly suggested Mr Fitzgibbon should “come on board” with the Coalition.

“The Member for Hunter has been driven out of the shadow cabinet,” Mr Morrison said.

“Driven out by an ideological group of zealots on that side of the House who have no interest in the jobs of Australians in regional areas.

“That is the view of the Member for Hunter. Come onboard.”

‘I regret not running for leadership’

Earlier, Mr Fitzgibbon said he will run for his NSW mining seat of Hunter at the next election and would only ever challenge for the Labor leadership if he was to be drafted.

But the former opposition resources spokesman did say he regretted not running after Bill Shorten resigned last year.

“I don’t believe I would have won that contest, but I think a contest would have been good for the rank-and-file and the industrial wing of the party,” Mr Fitzgibbon said in Canberra.

“And it would have been an opportunity for me to develop a mandate for my determination to take the Labor Party back to its traditional roots.

“I have no intention of running for the leadership. I would have to be drafted. And in the current climate, I’m not so sure I could be confident of that occurring.”

‘Albo can win if he listens’

“I think Albo can win if he listens to Joel Fitzgibbon,” he said in Canberra.

He said his move was being made to improve the party’s electability: the opposition was spending too much time talking about climate change.

Joel Fitzgibbon and Anthony Albanese during Question Time in the House of Representatives Chamber at Parliament House in Canberra back in 2017: Picture: Kym Smith

The Hunter MP told caucus on Tuesday morning he would stand down from his shadow ministerial duties, after Labor Left MPs used a faction meeting last night to criticise him for freelancing on policy.

It came after months of agitation over Labor’s climate policies.

Mr Fitzgibbon on Sunday said Left frontbenchers Mark Butler, Pat Conroy and Andrew Giles were “delusional” for arguing the US election showed ambitious climate change policies could be an electoral advantage.

Mr Fitzgibbon told caucus MPs he met with Mr Albanese this morning.

He said he had been trying to rebuild the party and “deliver a Labor government”, according to caucus sources.

He said the party can’t expect people in the inner Melbourne seat of Cooper to vote the same as someone from central Queensland.

The Opposition Leader also addressed caucus and said he was “mates” with the Hunter MP.

He said Mr Fitzgibbon made a “huge contribution” since entering parliament in 1996.

‘Climate policies rejected by Australians’

Mr Fitzgibbon said Labor’s climate policies had been rejected at several elections and the party had done nothing to reduce carbon emissions.

“I think the Labor Party has spent too much time talking about things like climate change — which is an important issue — and not enough on issues important to our traditional base,” he said in Canberra.

“The Labor Party, since the 2013 election, has had, I suppose, at least two energy policies and two climate change policies. And I note that both of them had been rejected by the Australian people.

“The conclusion you can draw from that is that, after 14 years of trying, the Labor Party has made not one contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in this country.

“So, if you want to act on climate change, the first step is to become the government. And to become the government, you need to have a climate change and energy policy that can be embraced by a majority of the Australian people.

“That is something we have failed to do for the last seven or eight years.”

Husic likely replacement

Labor MP Ed Husic is expected to replace Joel Fitzgibbon as Labor’s resources and agriculture spokesman.

Labor sources say the NSW Right will “almost certainly” pick Mr Husic to take over the portfolio, at least on an interim basis.

There will not be a broader reshuffle until the Scott Morrison unveils changes to the government’s frontbench.

Ed Husic, left, and Anthony Albanese. Picture: NCA Newswire/Gaye Gerard