Greens campaign for 40% target

The Australian Greens will campaign for a 40 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to save the planet from catastrophic climate change.

"Prime Minister Rudd's 5% target is a global embarrassment and a recipe for global catastrophe," Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.

"The Rudd target of 5 per cent will anger voters. It is exactly where John Howard would have placed Australia in 2009 - a spoiler as the Copenhagen conference on climate change reaches for a much higher goal.

Australian Greens leader Bob Brown says that the telephone calls to Rudd from global leaders on climate change action underscore an emerging recognition that the Australian government is opting for failure.

"The recognised minimum of 25% reduction by 2020 in greenhouse gas emissions has become, instead, a maximum for Rudd who is not disputing press speculation that he will set Australia's target as low as a 5-15% reduction," Senator Brown said in Hobart this morning.

The Greens policy is for a 40% reduction by 2020 in order to avoid dangerous climate change.

Promise of world leadership evaporates in office

Prime Minister Rudd's decision to opt for a weak greenhouse gas reduction target of five to 15 per cent by 2020 reneges on his election promises to tackle climate change with ‘real action' because ‘climate change is just too serious'.

In 2007 Mr Rudd warned ‘the consequences of failing to act, or getting it wrong, are just too great...Labor will lead by example [and] restore Australia's international leadership on climate change' - May 30, 2007.

Monday, 1 December 2008

Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, has again ducked answering a question on what goals in tackling climate change Australia will take to the global conference in Poznan, Poland next week.

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong won't say if she'll reveal the Federal Government's 2020 target for greenhouse gas emission reduction before she goes to international climate change talks in Poznan in Poland in December.

Ducking the question from Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown in the Senate today, Senator Wong said she will make the announcement on targets in December. But she refused to say if she would let Australians know the targets before she goes to Poznan, or if she would leave it to the rarefied air of the pre-Christmas week to make the information known.
 

Greens Leader Bob Brown says Prime Minister Rudd's global commitment to curbing greedy executives' pay contrasts with his repeated blocking of efforts in parliament.

For example, Senator Brown's motion calling on the government to "ensure that, as a minimum, no financial institutions executives' pay will increase as a consequence of government ... guaranteeing deposits' was voted down by Labor on 14 November.

"Where is there any sign of any action to curb the executive largesse?" Senator Brown said.

In Washington overnight, Mr Rudd complained that:

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown has written to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd asking him to put the Tobin tax on the international agenda for making financial regulation more responsible to global needs.

The Tobin tax - a levy of one basis point (one one hundredth of one per cent) - on international financial deals could raise $100 billion per annum, and, for example, ensure every poverty-stricken child on the planet had clean water, enough food and a school to attend," Senator Brown said.

The Government and Opposition closed ranks today to oppose a Greens amendment to the stimulus package that would have limited executive pay packages to no more than $5 million or ten times the Prime Minister's salary of $330,000, whichever is the lesser.

"The Rudd Government has just confirmed that it is all talk and no action on obscene executive pay packages" Senator Brown said.

The Australian Greens will green-up the Prime Minister's $10.4 billion package and extend it to ensure more jobs and local economic stimulus.

The Greens welcomed the package and say they will seek to have the $1.5 billion housing package lead into a four year, $4.7 billion plan aimed at creating thousands of green-collar jobs and assisting all homeowners.

"Countries with green economies are going to be the countries which do best this century. Greed has taken us into this crisis, Green will lead us out," Senator Brown said.

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown says that now taxpayers are guaranteeing Australia's banks, the most extravagant CEO pay packages should be clipped in return.

"Macquarie Bank's CEO takes home over $26 million this year. The big 4 bank's CEOs will get multimillion pay - but it is now the taxpayer's responsibility, rather than theirs, to assure depositors," Senator Brown said.

"Perversely, as their responsibility went down, the stock market and their prospective pay went up today.