A year after his election, what does the Abbott government’s environmental record look like? The answer is not pretty.
This Sunday marks a year since Tony Abbott was elected. The prime minister is riding low in the opinion polls as the least popular prime minister in twenty five years, with a net dissatisfaction rating of minus 19.
There’s little doubt that Mr Abbott’s unpopularity is driven by many things; he was unpopular even before his election in 2013. The litany of broken promises could be one reason. His attempts to unravel the Australian social compact, mostly encapsulated in his first budget, could be another. Judging by the fights he has picked, Abbott has decided he needs enemies like a thirsty man needs water: the environment, unions, Russia, asylum seekers, the unemployed, and more.
In the year to August 2014, emissions were 1m tonnes higher when compared with the year to June 2014. This is equivalent to an increase of 0.8% in emissions.
We agree on the national targets to reduce our emissions by five per cent by 2020. We also agree on the renewable energy target. And one of the things we don’t want to do is to become a party where there is this wild sovereign risk where you are, where businesses take steps to their detriment on the basis of a pledge and a policy of Government.
The problem facing most renewable energy projects is that financial institutions are too conservative to back their projects. But if a project is "proofed" by the CEFC then it becomes much more attractive to conventional finance.