August 13, 2015
The Coalition’s new emission reduction target will help the environment, without pushing up power bills of Gippsland households and businesses, Member for Gippsland Darren Chester said.
The Nationals MP has welcomed the Coalition Government’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions so they are 26-28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
“This is a responsible and achievable target. It is comparable to the targets of other developed countries and allows our economy and jobs to grow strongly,” Mr Chester said.
“We are doing our share of the heavy lifting on reducing global emissions.
“And unlike Labor, we will achieve all this without implementing a punishing electricity tax on households, farms and businesses.”
Mr Chester said Australia already had a track record of meeting its global emissions targets.
“We met and beat our first Kyoto target and expect to do the same in 2020 through the Government’s Direct Action plan,” Mr Chester said.
“Australia is making a strong and credible contribution to the international effort to tackle climate change and our emissions intensity and emissions per person will fall further than other developed economies.”
Australia will halve its emissions per person and reduce these by nearly two-thirds for every dollar of GDP by 2030.
The Government will meet Australia’s 2030 target through policies built on the successful Direct Action plan, in particular the Emissions Reduction Fund and its Safeguard Mechanism.
The Emissions Reduction Fund is already achieving significant emissions reductions – with 47 million tonnes contracted at less than $14 per tonne in the first auction alone.