Morrison Announcement: Doubling down on failed policy

THE MORRISON GOVERNMENT’S announcement that it is injecting more money into the Emissions Reduction Fund will do nothing to effectively tackle climate change and amounts to pouring good money after bad.

“Greenhouse gas pollution economy-wide has risen year on year while the government’s ERF program has been in operation. Doubling down on an ineffective program and hoping for a better outcome is a monumental waste of money,” said Climate Council CEO, Amanda McKenzie.

Ms McKenzie’s comments follow news the Morrison Government will extend Tony Abbott’s ineffectual climate change policy, which ignores the problem – greenhouse gas pollution from fossil fuels.

“The Federal Government has failed to tackle climate change because it has not focused on reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, particularly in sectors like electricity and transport. Australia continues to spew more and more pollution into the atmosphere” said Ms McKenzie.

“It is absolutely clear from the science that any climate policy that does not drive fossil fuel emissions down rapidly and deeply is not credible,” said Climate Councillor Will Steffen. “This policy fails miserably on this critical criterion.”

“The Prime Minister’s announcement that the Federal Government will create a Climate Solutions Fund is nothing more than a rebranding exercise. The ERF lives on and so does Tony Abbott’s antiquated policy,” said Ms McKenzie.

“Mr Morrison continues to use the same disingenuous language claiming that Australia will meet its Paris climate targets “at a canter”.

“When it comes to dealing with climate change, we haven’t even saddled the horse. The government’s own projections show we are not on track to meet our targets,” said Ms McKenzie.

“Australia is on the frontline of climate change and yet the Federal government has no credible climate policy,” she said.

“If we want to protect Australians from worsening extreme weather, we must rapidly reduce our pollution from coal, gas and oil,” she said.

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