With just over a week until the new federal parliament sits for the first time, the government is looking to garner support for its climate change bill.
The bill, which includes a commitment to an emissions reduction target of 43 per cent by 2030 and net zero by 2050, is due to be introduced during the first sitting week of parliament.
Climate change minister Chris Bowen met with climate focused independents and the Greens on Thursday to discuss the bill, and said the government is happy to consider any “sensible suggestions”.
Liberal MP Bridget Archer has told The Guardian that she will consider crossing the floor to support the climate bill, even if her Liberal colleagues – who are still grappling with their position on climate action – do not. Liberal leader Peter Dutton has previously said the Coalition will oppose the government’s legislation.
Archer has also warned that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should nip any “inflammatory” rhetoric in the bud if he wants to end the climate wars that have weighed down Australian politics for more than a decade.
Archer’s comments come after Albanese this week put blame on the Greens for not voting for Kevin Rudd’s proposed carbon pollution reduction scheme back in 2009. He said it led to a decade of inaction on climate.
Archer has said harking back to events of more than a decade ago was “inconsistent with the idea of ending the climate wars” and sent a bad signal about working together.
Greens leader Adam Bandt has said his party is willing to negotiate on the climate bill but also had intentions to push for a more ambitious approach. The Greens took a 75 per cent emissions reduction target to the last election, which is far more ambitious than Labor’s 43 per cent. Many independents also have policies more ambitious than Labor, ranging between 50 and 60 per cent.
Currently the government would need the support of the Greens and one independent to pass legislation through the senate.
ACT Senator David Pocock, one of the independents whose vote will be crucial, has indicated he is open to backing Labor’s 43 per cent target if it has “integrity”, although he would like to see the government be more ambitious.
“I’m committed to being constructive when it comes to action, to make sure we legislate something, and look at other ways how to ramp that up over time,” Senator Pocock told Insiders. “We have wasted a decade and there’s a lot of work to be done in this space.”
Senator Jacqui Lambie has also indicated she is open to backing Labor’s climate bill, and has said she wants to “get it right” the first time.