Aussies to ditch climate target Bill after PM ousting

SYDNEY: Australia’s new prime minister will not revive plans to embed carbon emissions targets in law, a thorny issue that triggered the ousting of his predecessor in a party coup.

Scott Morrison won a Liberal Party ballot to replace Malcolm Turnbull – a moderate who struggled to get his conservative colleagues to support the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) – as leader in late August.

Australia is considered one of the world’s worst per capita greenhouse gas polluters, and is a heavy user of coal-fired power.

Morrison, who is to the right of Turnbull, said the proposal to help the government meet its Paris Agreement pledge was “dead” and his government would focus instead on lowering soaring electricity prices.

“The NEG is dead, long live reliability guarantee, long live default prices, long live backing new power generation,” he told the Weekend Australian on Saturday.

“Next week we will be putting to rest the issue of the legislation ... it won’t be proceeding.”

Canberra said it would still work to reduce Australia’s emissions despite a lack of laws to enforce the Paris target.

The ruling Liberal-National coalition have struggled to introduce climate policies over the past decade amid political infighting and turbulence. —