THE SQUIZ
The Greens will support the Albanese Government’s legislation for a 43% emissions reduction target by 2030 on 2005 levels – and that means it will likely get through the federal parliament when it lands in the Senate next month. The Greens’ agreement came from lengthy negotiations between the parties – but they could not extract a ban on new coal and gas mines. Greens leader Adam Bandt said he was disappointed he couldn’t get the new government to move because “you can’t put out the fire while pouring more petrol on it.” But Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said it was “a good day for Australia.”

BACK IT UP A BIT…
Yeah, sure. So Australia is a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – as are most nations. It’s where the world comes together to discuss the latest climate change science and what actions each country will take to limit the damage. The landmark Paris Climate Agreement came from its 2015 round of talks, and the last meeting – COP26 – was in Glasgow. At that meeting, former PM Scott Morrison confirmed that his government wasn’t interested in upping Australia’s target of 26-28% emissions reduction by 2030 – but he did sign us up to net zero emissions by 2050. Morrison copped a lot of flack over the stationary short-term target, but the Coalition did not budge. Meanwhile, Labor campaigned on the 43% target ahead of the May election, and the Greens advocated for a 75% reduction by 2030. Labor and PM Anthony Albanese prevailed – and they don’t need legislation to put it in place.

HANG ON… IF THEY DIDN’T NEED LEGISLATION, WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?
Good question… So there are a couple of things about that. The first reason to put it into legislation is to give investors some certainty about emissions reductions. Yesterday, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the approach “is in Australia’s national interest and will provide certainty for business”. The new government also wants the world to know that “Australia is open to business when it comes to renewable energy,” said Minister Bowen. And it comes back to politics. Albanese says that securing support to legislate for his target means it’s a way for the whole parliament to “be on the right side of history”. And it’s “an opportunity to end the climate wars – if the Coalition decides to break with their rhetoric and actually come to the table.” The Liberal and National parties say they will vote against the legislation – and they’re going nuclear…