The Australian Greens, the Labor government and the Independent MPs today announced an historic agreement on a climate action package that will put a $23 per tonne price on carbon pollution, as was first proposed by the Greens, support householders and invest billions of dollars in clean, renewable energy.
This package, which the Greens have helped shape, is the first vital step towards tackling the climate crisis and building a cleaner, healthier, more secure Australia for all of us.
Major steps forward on emissions reduction targets, support for renewable energy, energy efficiency and landscape carbon, closing coal-fired power plants, limiting the use of international offsets and a floor price mean that pollution cuts that were pushed into the distant future under the government's original plans will now be pulled forward into the next few years.
While a climate action package designed by the Greens would have been more ambitious straight away, what we have achieved is a firm foundation for the future. Where the Rudd government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme acted as a ceiling on action, constraining our efforts for decades to come, this carbon price package acts as a platform on which stronger action can be built in the years ahead.
Adam Bandt MP, 7th July 2011
Your personal MPCCC briefing this Sunday
The price on pollution announcement is just days away.The package contains some great measures for renewable energy, constitutes a platform for action and most importantly provides for upwards flexibility. This is an historic opportunity for the nation and a great win for all of you who have worked so hard to keep climate action at the top of the political agenda.
We want you and the community to know just what gains were made for the climate.
We also need to ensure that all your hard work is not undone. Tony Abbott’s scare campaign continues and whilst we have come a long way to finding the common points of agreement between the Greens, the Independents and the government and negotiated some very important reforms, the package still needs to be communicated effectively with our local community and passed through the parliament.
Please join Greens Senator, Richard Di Natale and me this Sunday for an emergency meeting so that I can provide you with a personal briefing on our important achievements, celebrate your work and plan for our next steps!
Where: 6pm Sunday 10th July Hayden Raysmith room, Ross House, 241-251 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. Click here to RSVP via facebook.
We want to hit the ground running on Monday and start telling Melbourne about this historic achievement. We’ll be hitting train stations, handing out leaflets at shopping centres and weekend markets. We will need your help to do this.
Please give whatever spare time you have to help with letterboxing and leafleting over the next two weeks - it's critical. If we don’t communicate directly with Melbourne, the community might not understand what an important reform this is, how it will affect them and transition us to the clean energy future we so desperately need.
Sign up here now to take action in your local community and get the real story out.
Adam Bandt MP, 1st June 2011
