Voters have given the government a failing grade for its action on climate change in a survey ahead of the election.
Not a single group – by age, voting preference or location – rated the Government above 50 per cent, or 4.8 out of 10, for its performance.
Among 18 to 25-year-olds, the average score was just 1.5 and one in four people surveyed rated the Morrison Government a 0 for “not doing anything at all”.
The survey was commissioned by the Climate Council for its report titled
Climate Change researcher, Emeritus Professor Will Steffen from ANU, said Australia’s fossil fuel production had increased 19 per cent over the current government’s past three terms.
“Because of this government’s inaction on climate, we now have even less time left to act to avoid catastrophic warming,” Professor Steffen said.
“We also need to deal with the accelerating consequences that are already with us, as we’ve just seen with the east coast floods, and get ready for even worse.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has fended off criticism of his government’s track record on climate after being one of the last OECD countries to commit to a target of net zero by 2050.
The government spruiked its spending of $22 billion on low-emissions technology over 10 years, under the banner “technology not taxes”.
While the funding has been welcomed by those in the field, the majority is distributed through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and Arena, which were established through deals between Labor, the Greens and independents.
Tuesday’s budget revealed government spending on climate change would decrease each year for the next four years, from $2 billion in the current financial year to just $1.3 billion by 2025-26.
“Australia is on the pathway to net zero emissions by 2050 and playing its part in responding to the critical global challenge of climate change,” treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Tuesday night.
“Already, Australia has the highest uptake of rooftop solar in the world. We are investing in clean hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, batteries and large‑scale solar.
“Tonight, we make further investments in microgrids to support regional and remote communities that don’t otherwise have access to the grid with small‑scale renewable energy projects like solar and wind.”
The Climate Council’s report accused the Government of covering up its poor performance with “misleading claims, dubious accounting and censorship”.
“Australians have lost almost a decade of what should’ve been our moment to take strong and bold action on climate,” Climate Council chief executive Amanda McKenzie said.
“We could be a nation that has embraced the limitless economic potential of a swift transition to renewables, but instead, we’re clinging to coal, oil and gas.
“It’s no wonder Australians rate the Morrison Government so poorly on this xjmtzywissue.”
