Just midweek and they have been busy.

JAMES NAUGHTIE, HOST
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA


  • NAUGHTIE: One last question, and it's about climate change, which you are very concerned about. Now, the King is now out of the political arena in the sense that he has to tread carefully on political issues that are matter for government. But everyone knows his commitment on these questions. No doubt you would hope that that is a conversation despite his accession to the throne that can go on.


PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think that is a matter, of course, for King Charles, what he comments on. And it's important that the Sovereign stay distant from party political issues. But from my perspective, what I've said, is that I'd be very comfortable with the King expressing views about the importance of climate change, and it is about the very survival of our way of life. We know that in Australia the impacts of bushfires, floods, natural disasters, are doing exactly what the science told us would happen - which is that there have always been natural disasters in Australia, but they're more frequent and they're more intense, and that's why this issue shouldn't be a partisan political issue. It should be an issue which the world needs to confront.

BBC news | Prime Minister of Australia

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Labor faces an obstacle when it comes to fulfilling election promises electric vehicles The Greens and Independent Senator David Pocock raised concerns about the government’s inclusion of hybrid cars in legislation.

The Albany government did well on its campaign promise to make EVs cheaper with the introduction of legislation that would cut the fringe benefit tax on low and zero emissions vehicles. But that includes plug-in hybrids, which rely on petrol combustion engines as well as electric power and are already commercially competitive.

The Greens and Pocock are concerned that the inclusion of plug-in hybrids will bake in another taxpayer-funded fossil fuel subsidy, slowing tax-ups. of real zero emission vehicles,

Opposition It has already announced that it will vote against the law, on the grounds that it believes the subsidies will cost taxpayers too much. That leaves Labor up to independent senators like the Greens and Pocock if they want to pass the bill.

Bandt said it was an easy solution for the government to remove plug-in hybrids from the law, a move a Parliamentary Budget Office analysis found would save nearly $1 billion over 10 years, and invest in EV infrastructuresuch as a charging station.

Bandt said more than $11 billion of taxpayer money is spent on fossil fuel subsidies every year and the government needs to start cutting freebies, not adding to them.

“Public money should drive the electric vehicle revolution, not handouts for petrol cars. Instead of spending a billion dollar subsidy on petrol cars that people are already buying, the government should spend that money on building charging stations in regional areas as well as setting up home chargers for people,” he said. Told.

“Building charging stations across the country will make electric vehicles more available to regional and rural Australians, while also giving everyone the confidence to travel long distances.”

Pocock said he was thinking similarly.

“Analysis shows that almost half the kilometer traveled by plug-in hybrid uses a petrol engine. This 50% petrol-powered travel time is with additional emissions from the battery and the extra weight of the electric motor,” he said.

“The average lifespan of a car in Australia is about 10 years. A plug-in hybrid purchased today will lock emissions over the lifetime of the vehicle. We need to move away from transport emissions, not turn them off for long periods of time.” .

“I have heard the argument that plug-in hybrids are needed in rural and regional areas because of the lack of charging infrastructure. The solution to the lack of charging stations is to build more, not purely to shortchange regional Australia. Failing to encourage electric vehicles that will provide long-term savings.”

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  • Sydney-based teal independents speak at Sydney Morning Herald Sustainability Summit


Dr Sophie Scamps MP - There are enormous opportunities & enormous threats for the environment ahead. Australia can be a first mover and lead the world if we have the political will.
Great panel today at the SMH Sustainability Summit with @KyleaTink @zalisteggall @spenderallegra
#smhsustainability https://twitter.com/SophieScamps/sta...43375607713795

Sustainability has been front and centre of this year’s Federal Election campaign reflecting the importance the community places on the future of the planet.

Organisations have, so far, been ahead of politicians in addressing the challenges of climate change. But how well are they implementing structural reform in their day-to-day operations? And how are they communicating their actions to their employees and key stakeholders? What is Government’s role in encouraging societal change, and will the businesses who go above and beyond mere compliance reap the rewards of the new paradigm? Is having climate-friendly policies the new cost of doing business, and how do you ensure that your actions will make a discernable difference and not be viewed as an exercise in greenwashing.

This Summit will analyse the political appetite for regulatory reform, assess how Corporate Australia can balance responsibility with shareholder return, and showcase organisations who are already seeing measurable results for their sustainability commitments.

https://smhsustainability.com.au/