Turnbull bows to pressure to abandon climate targets
SYDNEY: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia abandoned plans for emission targets on Monday, bowing to pressure from conservatives who considered toppling Mr Turnbull’s government over an energy policy that aimed to reduce prices and bring the country into line with international climate change commitments.
Mr Turnbull, who looked tired after a weekend of negotiating with colleagues, told reporters on Monday morning that the energy policy bill, known as the National Energy Guarantee, would not be introduced in the House of Representatives because there was not enough support.
“We are not going to propose legislation purely for the purpose of it being defeated,” he said.
Critics immediately called that claim inaccurate, noting that the proposal had support from other parties. But whatever its chances, the defeat spurred intense speculation about Mr Turnbull’s future and frustration among those increasingly worried about Australia’s vulnerability to climate change and its effects, from extreme drought to bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef.
“All it does is reconfirm that they have no interest in doing anything about climate change or the Great Barrier Reef really,” said Jon Brodie, a well-known coral reef scientist at James Cook University.
The energy plan’s climate change element — a commitment to reduce energy emission levels in 2030 to 26% below the levels recorded in 2005 — was not wildly ambitious. It matched the target Australia set for the entire country in the Paris climate agreement, meaning that agriculture and other industries would still have to do more to meet the nation’s commitments under the deal.
The energy guarantee was at least the third attempt by Mr Turnbull to devise an energy policy that included a path toward reducing emissions. Its failure showed that at least for now, the science of global climate change has again been pushed aside by the relentless scrum for power in Canberra.
Mr Turnbull has been battling accusations of weak leadership ever since he toppled Tony Abbott in a 2015 leadership challenge. But with recent polls suggesting the opposition Labor party would win an election if it were held today, he has
become increasingly vulnerable.
Yesterday, Mr Turnbull survived a challenge to his leadership, narrowly fending off a more conservative rival. After the energy bill failure, he called for a vote among Liberal Party colleagues, and defeated Peter Dutton, the Home Affairs minister, 48-35.
Whether Mr Turnbull is eventually toppled or not, the internal frustration plays into well-established feuds and volatility.
Neither Mr Abbott nor other conservatives in the party have ever fully accepted Mr Turnbull, a cosmopolitan former investment banker whose policy achievements include legislation legalising same-sex marriage.
In this case, experts say, Mr Turnbull’s main challengers are his previous rival, Mr Abbott, and Mr Dutton, the home affairs minister.
Mr Dutton’s ambitions are well known. He initially held off on replying to growing speculation about his plans, only later to declare on Twitter: “the Prime Minister has my support and I support the policies of the Government.”
Mr Turnbull confirmed a truce of sorts Monday, before the vote yesterday.
By that point, though, he had already announced his abandonment of the emissions targets — leading some analysts to argue that failing to address climate change was the price of his keeping his job.
By Monday afternoon, Mr Turnbull was speaking in the House of Representatives, arguing for the latest version of the National Energy Guarantee, which he said would prioritise power grid stability and reduce energy prices.
He said little about climate change, having given up on a modest attempt to address it. Instead, he focused on “hardworking middle-income Australians”, arguing, “This is an opportunity to make a really material difference to people’s electricity bills.”