The Liberals dumping climate change as a ministry
The conservatism of the major parties was rejected at the election, writes Rachel Hay
During the election campaign, the words ‘climate change’ were scarcely uttered, if at all, by the Tasmanian Liberal Party. The only reference in their media releases to climate change was to the then-Minister for Climate Change, Roger Jaensch. They’ve now fixed that small issue – by removing the ministry entirely.
The Tasmanian Labor Party weren’t much better, simply mirroring plans and policies that the Liberals had already committed to in their climate and environment policy.
And how about the Jacqui Lambie Network, who had no policies at all?
Tasmanians clearly voted for change in March’s election, with 11 members on the crossbench – more than the Labor Party, and almost as many as the Liberal Party’s 14. The conservatism of the major parties was rejected, with Tasmanians voting to make almost a third of parliament anti-establishment, progressive or disruptive. Research completed by Voices of Tasmania shows that climate change was the top issue for Tasmanians before the election.
Dumping climate change as a ministry is not the change that Tasmanians so clearly voted for.
The members of the Liberal government have often touted themselves as climate leaders, despite inadequate commitments to reduce emissions. But their net zero by
2030 target is weak, and relies on past reductions of native forest logging and increased renewable energy generation. Without real emissions reductions, the state isn’t projected to even meet this inadequate target. The UTAS Policy Exchange has recommended a target of 37 per cent by 2030.
The Tasmanian government’s first Emissions Reduction and Resilience Plan on Transport sets no targets for the emissions reductions needed in the sector, or the mode-shift needed to active transport, public transport and electric vehicles to achieve it. The electric vehicle incentives the government offered, the most important policy to make this shift, are extremely limited, having been maxed out at only 375 claimants.
Yet the Tasmanian government’s recent dumping of climate change as a ministry shows they’re no longer