Media release
CANBERRA: Former United States Vice President Al Gore has flown to Canberra tonight to meet with Clive Palmer at Parliament House.
The federal leader of the Palmer United Party and Member for Fairfax, Clive Palmer, said following talks with Vice-President Gore at federal parliament today, he had convinced him to consider a number of issues currently before the Australian parliament.
“Al Gore is a Nobel laureate and had some important points to make,” Mr Palmer said.
“Vice-President Gore is a great leader and he has certainly convinced me of the need for the whole world to work together.
“The world is constantly changing and our ability to adapt to change and to keep an open mind on issues which affect all of us is what really matters. United States President Barrack Obama has recently shown great leadership on this issue.”
Mr Palmer said the Palmer United Party, which will hold the balance of power from July 1, will move amendments to the carbon tax repeal bill to insert provisions to ensure the full savings power companies receive under a repeal are handed on to everyday Australians.
“True to our promises to the Australian people at the last election, Palmer United Party senators will vote in the Senate to abolish the carbon tax,” he said.
“In doing so, our senators will move an amendment to ensure the removal of the carbon tax requires all producers of energy in this country to be required by law to pass on to all consumers of energy the savings they will enjoy from the repeal of the carbon tax.
“This action by our senators will make Australian industries more competitive and the lives of our people more manageable.”
Mr Palmer said the Coalition government’s response to climate change is, as Prime Minister Tony Abbott has outlined, to tackle the problem with Direct Action.
“Direct Action is a waste of money at a time when families, pensioners, young Australians, stay at home mums, single parents and our indigenous communities are facing unfair measures in the Budget,” he said.
“In understanding climate change, we must remain ever vigilant and be aware of how Australia as part of the international community is doing and, more importantly, what the global community can do together to make the lives of all those who inhabit the world more secure.
“In voting against the abolition of the Climate Change authority, Palmer United Party senators will move an amendment to provide for the establishment, by Parliament, of an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which will only become effective once Australia’s main trading partners also take action to establish such a scheme.
“This is designed to establish and encourage a fair global scheme quickly.
“So this measure cannot be defined as a financial measure, this scheme will have a carbon price zero rated.
“The government and the parliament of the day have the ability to set the financial parameters of the scheme based on the action of our leading trading partners such as China, the United States, the European Union, Japan and Korea.
“We need to ensure the jobs and enterprises of all Australians will not be disadvantaged. Australia will respond in like terms.”
Mr Palmer said Palmer United senators will also vote against the abolition of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).
“When in opposition the Abbott-led coalition at the time promised the Australian people prior to the last election that Australia would retain its Renewable Energy Target (RET),” he said.
“Now he seeks to break this promise. We will therefore not support any change to the RET before 2016 – after the next election.
“There is more than $15 billion in the renewable energy investment pipeline, which will be at risk, along with the associated 18,400 jobs if the RET is dismantled.”