Media release
Palmer United Party federal leader and Member for Fairfax, Clive Palmer, has praised the efforts of the Climate Change Authority after their report, published on Wednesday, put pressure on Labor and Liberal to lift their ambition on Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) targets.
Mr Palmer said the Palmer United Party successfully negotiated with the Abbott Government to retain the Climate Change Authority as well as the enquiry into major environmental initiatives by Bernie Fraser, chairman of the Climate Change Authority.
The report has urged Australia to fast-track its cuts to greenhouse gases, declaring the country is falling short of the task required to cut emissions by 2020 if we want to match the efforts of other countries in the effort to curb global warming.
“This report puts the pressure on the Abbott Government and the Labor Party to take serious steps against global warming by lifting their ambition on ETS targets,” Mr Palmer said.
“This report is yet another example of the Palmer United Party delivering real results for everyday Australians through a common-sense approach.”
Mr Palmer said it was his meeting with former United States Vice-President Al Gore last year that convinced him of the need for the whole world to work together and that Australia needed to establish a new ETS.
“The Palmer United Party’s proposed ETS would only become effective once Australia’s main trading partners also took action to establish one,” he said.
“The scheme will have a zero carbon price and the government will eventually have the ability to set the financial parameters of the scheme depending on the actions of Australia’s leading trading partners such as China, the United States, the European Union, Japan and Korea.
“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.”
ENDS