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Anger over climate change betrayal by major parties

Labor and Plibersek have come under fire for approving the expansion of three coal mines.

Labor and Plibersek have come under fire for approving the expansion of three coal mines. Photo: AAP

The Albanese government has been slammed for allowing three coal mines to expand, but the opposition offers no better path to net-zero, according to critics.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s approval of the mines expansion in the Hunter Valley earlier this week, was met with anger from independent crossbenchers.

Monique Ryan, the independent MP for Kooyong, said the “major parties can’t be trusted to act on climate change”.

“In 2022, Australia gave the Albanese government a clear mandate for immediate and effective action on climate change,” she said.

“This week, Tanya Plibersek greenlit three new coal mines.”

‘Locking in more climate pollution’

Amanda McKenzie, Climate Council CEO, said that seven coal mines have been given the green light since Labor won the 2022 federal election.

“Every decision like this betrays future generations,” she said.

“Our children will not forgive us for locking in more climate pollution for decades to come.”

The Climate Change Authority, a government body that tracks decarbonisation efforts, found Australia is not on track to meet its 2030 emissions reduction target.

Australia is projected to achieve a 42 per cent reduction in carbon emissions, 1 per cent below the goal, but that analysis did not factor in the approval of new coal mines.

Gavan McFadzean, from the Australian Conservation Foundation, said the move was “the opposite of climate action”.

“These coal mines will generate more than 1.3 billion tonnes of lifetime emissions which will undermine Australia reaching net zero by 2050,” he said.

“Whitehaven’s Narrabri coal mine alone threatens several iconic and threatened species such as the regent honeyeater, koala, Pilliga mouse and Corben long-eared bat.”

No alternative

Peter Dutton’s admission that his nuclear-first plan would extend the shelf-life of coal power stations has consigned the country to a difficult road in meeting climate targets, regardless of who wins the next election.

Alison Reeve, deputy program director of energy and climate change at the Grattan Institute, said that it is “increasingly clear the Coalition’s nuclear policy would prolong Australia’s reliance on coal”.

“It appears the Coalition’s plan involves relying on coal to provide electricity while nuclear reactors are being built,” she said in The Conversation.

“Labor’s energy plan also relies on continued use of coal.”

battery coal origin

The Grattan Institute estimated that ageing coal mines would be kept in use for another 12 years under the Liberal Party’s plan. Photo: AAP

Dutton said earlier this year that the party would not release 2030 emissions targets until the Liberal-Nationals Party wins the next federal election.

Instead, he insisted that his nuclear energy policy, where nuclear reactors were unlikely to be functional until the 2040s, is the only way Australia can abandon fossil fuels.

Many of the claims originally made by Dutton and his party around nuclear energy have been scrutinised by experts and found to be lacking in factual basis, resulting in revisions to the plan on the fly.

The timeline has expanded from somewhere between three years and a decade to 2035.

Taxpayers would pay for the reactors, not the private sector and the free market like Dutton originally promised.

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