Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk faced awkward questions on climate policy on Wednesday after lecturing the federal government for jeopardising the future of the Great Barrier Reef.
The state Labor leader on Wednesday slammed the National Party over its plan to support the construction of a new coal-fired power station under Barnaby Joyce, who ascended to the position of Deputy Prime Minister in the same week UNESCO recommended the reef’s World Heritage status be downgraded due to its dramatic coral decline.
The Premier called for greater co-operation between her government and federal counterparts over the reef’s future and declared the “greatest risk to the Great Barrier Reef is the National Party in Canberra”.
“They’re the ones who are proposing a coal mine right on the Great Barrier Reef,” she said.
The position is somewhat at odds with the Palaszczuk government’s approval of the construction of the Carmichael coal mine in Central Queensland, a royalties deal with Adani completed on the eve of last year’s state election.
When quizzed by reporters on Wednesday about this confusing policy position, the Premier spruiked the benefits of thermal energy sources.
“Coal is going to be needed across the globe for many years to come, including gas, including renewables,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
RELATED: Pitch to convert Callide power station
“That’s why we have a 50 per cent renewable energy target by 2030 and that’s why my government, in the last budget, just invested $2 billion in renewable energy.”
Pressed again on how the Carmichael coal mine would contribute to damage inflicted on the planet, including the Great Barrier Reef, Ms Palaszczuk said “these are all in the plans and are already underway” and insisted her state government had introduced regulations to improve water quality.
But a leading research body rejected the claim that harmful extractive sources of energy are needed.
“The science is clear that there can be no new coal, oil, or gas if we are to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of climate change, and hold global temperature rise to well below 2°C,” Climate Council campaign director Alix Pearce told NCA NewsWire.
“Queensland is already bearing the brunt of climate change impacts, as seen by the destruction of our Great Barrier Reef — which supports over 60,000 jobs — and devastating bushfire seasons like we have seen in recent years.”
Mr Pearce urged the state government to scale up its clean energy potential and move away from its reliance on coal.
“Regional cities like Townsville, Gladstone and Mackay have the skilled workforce, close proximity to excellent renewable resources, and established industrial infrastructure that makes them ideal to develop clean industries,” he said.
“Queensland has the natural resources to become a world leader in renewable energy, as well as in industries such as clean manufacturing, minerals processing, and renewable hydrogen — bringing with it tens of thousands of jobs. This exciting transition is already underway in the Sunshine State, and this is Queensland's future, not coal.”
State Greens MP Michael Berkman said UNESCO’s assessment of the Great Barrier Reef was a “damning indictment” of both the state and federal governments.
“It's excruciating watching the (Palaszczuk) government try and spin their way out of their responsibility for having approved Carmichael now that that’s coming under scrutiny from UNESCO,” he told NCA NewsWire.
“If the premier is still intent on spending hundreds of millions of dollars to fix up a busted coal-powered station at Callide rather than building a battery and funding just transition for those workers, then she‘s just as bad as Barnaby.”
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2021-06-23 08:35:39Z
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