Anthony Albanese nullifies radical Greens’ agenda but a bigger fight is ahead

Anthony Albanese has had a big win on climate change and assured the passage of his promised election 2030 carbon emissions reductions target of 43 per cent.

It’s not as all-encompassing as the Prime Minister’s claim that it is the biggest success in 10 years and an opportunity to finally end the climate wars but it is big.

What’s more, it’s a Labor victory in the face of an even more radical Greens’ agenda that Albanese has nullified while being able to deal out and demonise Peter Dutton and the Coalition.

“This is an opportunity for the whole of the parliament to be on the right side of history, to put aside the conflict and arguments that came around with 22 different energy policies,” Albanese declared in the Prime Minister’s courtyard in Parliament House.

Yet there are even bigger political fights to come, and even graver dangers to Australia’s resources industry in the yet-to-be decided details of the way to achieve this cherished 43 per cent target.

On this point, Albanese said he hadn’t given ground to the Greens or climate change crossbenchers on radical bids to stop new coal and gas projects and no amendments against the spirit of Labor’s mandate would be accepted.

Albanese was also dismissive of Adam Bandt’s rhetoric about making a “weak bill better” and didn’t hesitate to point to the Greens’ drastic pull back from higher targets than 43 per cent and an intention to ban new gas or coal projects.

“It’s a Labor bill. It is not a Greens bill. I am leader of the Labor Party. We have an agenda that we will implement, consistent with the principles that I have always held,” he vowed.

Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen was a little less hubristic, saying: “The climate wars may not be over (but) they are certainly in retreat”.

Bowen’s pursuit of the passage of the bill, at times hyperventilated and always technically unnecessary, contains less hubris for another reason: the real impact on industry of Labor’s mechanism to cut emissions is to be determined.

Albanese consistently claims Labor is not changing the mechanism governing Australian industries and projects facing international competition and Bowen said the safeguards mechanism policy Labor took to the election would be implemented.

Yet while Bowen repeated that the safeguards mechanism policy Labor took to the election would be the one they implemented, he disclosed it would be the subject of a discussion paper later in August in which details would be spelt out.

Bandt and the Greens will be watching for an opportunity to inject themselves back into the climate change wars and the Coalition opposition will be alert to any devil in the detail.

There is much confusion to be settled yet.

Albanese has won his headline, but the focus will now shift to the footnotes.