The climate change bill is just the government renewing its vows

Nice to have but is it necessary?

Nice to have but was it necessary?

This is an opinion piece.

Australian politicians have been bickering about climate change for 10-years.

It's been a thorn in the side of many leaders and all parties. We've even lost a Prime Minister or two along the way due to the infighting over it, including Malcolm Turnbull.

Last week during the second week of the first sitting fortnight of a new parliament, helmed by a new government, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had a symbolic win and sured up what will be the successful passage of a 2030 carbon emissions reductions target of 43%.

Addressing parliament after the Greens decided to not let perfect get in the way of good and sided with the government's plan with minimal changes, the PM said Australia is "out of the naughty corner in international forums".

Energy and Climate Minister Chris Bowen said the new climate laws would "send a message to the world" that this country was open to renewable energy.

Meanwhile business and industry - mainly the resources sector - have been standing outside these guy's offices like John Cusack in Say Anything for the better part of a decade. While politicians clutched their pearls and pulled stunts, like cradling lumps of coal in parliament, they got on and started moving ahead with transition plans to sustainable renewables.

You just have to Google Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest to see he, and other cashed up, visionary business leaders, are osentinsibly all so into green, solar and hydrogen they're like a live action cast of Captain Planet (who drive Teslas and carry Black Amex).

Shareholders aren't as understanding, or as patient, as the wider Australian electorate. 

For successive governments, it's been a stroll towards a cleaner, greener future, but for those with legitimate KPIs (tied to lucrative incentives), it's a race.

The climate change bill is welcome, but it is political pantomime at its finest. The tune on that boombox has now changed to Lizzo's About Damn Time but the script of the Bill is all style and no substance.

It's like a power couple on the rocks renewing their vows. Someone will probably cheat, or renege on some promise, and the union may dissolve quietly in a few years. Look at Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon, Kris Jenner and Caitlyn (nee Bruce), Clive Palmer and Jacqui Lambie.

Like any relationship, a week is a long time in politics, let alone eight years.

It now all comes down to brass tacks. Businesses have certainty according to Albanese to "invest" in Australia, but can they afford to? 

It's the same for households. 

When are electricity prices set to come down? And petrol? What about iceberg lettuce?

The government wants to walk and chew gum at the same time but having the Treasurer Jim Chalmers talking down the economy during the same week it was revealed it's being propped up by coal exports, according to the latest ABS data, means we might have to stop, scrape some of the chewie off our soles and reassess the direction for a bit.

They can't keep banging on about the other guy's leaving them (or more accurately the Australian taxpayers) with a $1 trillion tab when real people, ones with less job security and 000s on their pay slips, are worried about not being able to buy eggs at Woolies tonight or pay their mortgages in six months time.

There are real things these politicians could start resolving, as The Australian's Chris Kenny pointed out at the weekend - "Declining energy security, soaring electricity costs, housing affordability, Indigenous disadvantage, sliding education standards, defence vulnerability."

The government's only win of last week was the first in the many steps needed to fix the diabolical state of aged care in this country.

Today I met Tara, Conwell, Marina, Rhiannon and Katherine, dedicated carers of older Australians. They are inspirations for the work we are doing to reform aged care. We promised the Australian people that we would reform aged care and we are. pic.twitter.com/QUdRWVlAdE

— Anika Wells MP (@AnikaWells) August 4, 2022

The climate bill, if anything, gave those paying close attention a glimpse into how Albanese and his team will work with the minor players to get their own way during this term of government.

The independent voices - like Monique Ryan in Kooyong and Zali Steggall in Warringah - are refreshing to public discourse and matter to the wider public and social media, but their votes in the House of Representatives don't.

Their concerns about climate action were "listened to" and will be "taken on board" according to Bowen and Albanese, but this was a victory for team red, not teal.

And everything will be for the next three years and beyond as the government aims to build on its majority.

“I think Australians would expect a government of grown-ups to get on with the job and talk to people of good will to make sure that we have a good solid climate Bill," Bowen said on Sunday. Note his emphasis on "government"and relegating the teals to "people of good will". 

Albanese once said the reason he got into politics was to "fight tories". The best way he can do that will be to give the teals a platform to pose and posture for their electorates so they get re-elected and thus thwarting the chances of moderate Liberals regaining those seats.

Factions are part and parcel of the major parties but they already appear to have started forming inside the small quorum of independents too. 

The most interesting aspect of the climate debate wasn't Labor v Liberal it was the quiet divide emerging between the newbies.

While the majority of unaligned MPs voted with the government (and the Greens), one did not.

Independent MP for Fowler Dai Le abstained from voting on the climate Bill as she didn't deem it an emergency and instead said the focus of politicians right now should be shifted to cost of living.

“For me, I'm all for a greener and cleaner environment. The important issue that I raised was that there is no plan in the Bills to talk about what it's going to cost. How it is going to add cost to ordinary Australians?” Le said on the Today show. 

“It is very important that we actually understand what it's going to cost to an electorate like mine in Fowler where our family income is 20% less than the income of the rest of Australia,” she said.

Le also said she would consider supporting a revised version of the Bill in the future provided it had better detail.

I will be abstaining from voting on the Climate Change Bill.

I can’t justify voting yes on a bill that’s been rushed through parliament when we haven’t been given any specific details of the immediate impact on communities like Fowler.https://t.co/k2lhX9pGqV

— Dai Le (@dai_le) August 3, 2022

The key take away of Le's decision making was her focus on the "ordinary" which is what makes all good relationships and legislation really extraordinary. Get that right and there's no need to renew anything, vows or policy.