Watch Sally Sitou Tear Apart The Coalition’s Climate Change Legacy
“Angus Taylor has had more tries at developing an energy policy than the NRL season has had tries."
Sally Sitou has ripped into the Coalition’s climate inaction under the Morrison Government, after a Liberal Senator called climate change a “luxury issue”.
On Tuesday, the Labor MP appeared on an ABC panel with Shadow Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy Hollie Hughes, and was asked to respond to the comments made by the day prior.
Sitou said it was an “interesting perspective” from Hughes to call action on climate change a ‘woke agenda’, and addressed how the Liberal Senator dismissed the Albanese Government’s climate policies in relation to rising living costs.
“I think that really goes to the heart of how the Coalition sees our energy policy as a whole, but also action on climate change,” said Sitou. “We need to be very clear — they had nine years to develop an energy policy, we’ve been in government for two weeks.”
Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes calls action on climate change a woke agenda. This was my response on @abcnews Afternoon briefing. pic.twitter.com/HrVYOSP90J
— Sally Sitou 陈莎莉 – Labor for Reid (@SallySitou) June 7, 2022
“Angus Taylor has had more tries at developing an energy policy than the NRL season has had tries, and the fact [is] that he has been unable to give the industry certainty, predictability, and reliability.”
Labor’s new climate policy involves committing net zero by 2050 in legislation, but will not do the same for its 2030 target of reducing emissions by 43 percent from 2005 levels, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. An analysis in The Conversation described the party’s stance on climate change as having been “carefully calibrated to provide a clear point of distinction with the Coalition while doing as little as possible to alienate any significant group of voters”.
Hughes had acknowledged that climate change was one of the deciding topics in the Federal Election, but said the extra money Labor will funnel towards addressing climate change would affect the economy, when voters are being affected by increasing power prices.
She also said that despite her entire portfolio, she is not “personally in favour” of extending carbon emissions reduction targets, saying that Australia “could shut everything down tomorrow and all go live in trees”, but that it would do jack all for the environment.
On Tuesday, federal, state and territory energy ministers convened to address the growing cost of energy, which is experiencing a spike due to factors like the war in Ukraine, and ageing coal generators, amid a cold snap, according to the ABC.
“This is a perfect storm — absolutely — but it’s been a storm that has been a long time brewing, and the Coalition has failed to act,” said Sitou. “They’ve failed to really implement a plan that will drive down electricity prices, whereas we have a plan that has been independently modelled to show that it will drive down electricity prices, but it will also help us meet our emissions reduction targets.”