The Greens have rebuked the Morrison government’s plan to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on a gas plant announced the very same day that the International Energy Agency made it clear that a safe climate means no new fossil fuel projects, starting now.

In a separate attack on Australia’s economy and climate, the government has quietly amended the ARENA rules to allow the renewables agency to invest in fossil fuels coal and gas.

Lines from Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt MP:

The Liberals and Labor have today voted to fund new fossil fuel projects with public money through the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund, enabling the $5 billion fund to be used on projects like the Beetaloo Basin gas project and Adani.

By siding with the Liberals and voting to put public money into new coal and gas projects, Labor has betrayed climate action, Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP said.

Plans to spend nearly $60 million more of taxpayers money on gas projects will result in a slower transition to renewable energy in Australia. Budget plans leaked today show the government is determined to undermine any efforts, market or otherwise, to reduce emissions.

This comes a day after an executive veto by a Minister on a Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund to invest in a renewable energy project in Queensland.

The Greens will move to outlaw Scott Morrison’s plan to fund a new gas-fired power plant in the Upper Hunter, moving when parliament resumes to block the use of taxpayer funds on new fossil fuels. 

Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt MP said the Prime Minister now had the weekend to decide whether he wanted to throw up to $600 million at a power plant that serves no purpose other than to accelerate global heating.

Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, has described Prime Minister Scott Morrison as an utter embarrassment and a threat to Australia’s safety after Australia’s weak climate action stood in contrast to a host of nations, including our biggest trading partners, lifting their 2030 targets at President Biden’s Climate Summit.

“We are heading towards a climate cliff and as Joe Biden desperately tries to stop us going over the edge, Scott Morrison refuses to lift 2030 targets and Labor backs him in,” said Mr Bandt.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt said that after speeches of the Prime Minister and Leader of Opposition reported today, it is clear that their renewed commitment to coal means the only pathway to climate action is putting the Greens in balance of power after the next election.

Under a Greens shared power parliament Australia will strive to generate 700% of existing electricity demand with renewables, Adam Bandt MP has declared, outlining a key electoral policy ahead of the launch of a new policy vision document this weekend.

Part of a pitch to voters in Queensland this weekend, this policy will be a key part of Greens election campaigning in the coming months ahead of the election.

The Australian Greens have said the disastrous flooding in NSW was a grim look at the future of extreme weather in a climate crisis, warning that more action must be taken to prevent the situation from rapidly worsening.

The Greens say that parliament must urgently declare a climate emergency, then start a rapid transition away from coal, oil and gas, the primary causes of global heating.

Lines from Adam Bandt MP, Leader of the Australian Greens: