Albo Said Australia Will Remain A “Reliable” Supplier Of Fossil Fuels
“Australia will continue to be a trusted and stable supplier of energy and resources to our key trading partners,”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has sent some mixed messages about the future of the fossil fuel industry in Australia.
While speaking as the keynote speaker at an annual Australian Minerals dinner yesterday, Anthony Albanese told audiences that Australia will continue to be a “reliable” provider of fossil fuels like coal and gas, while also eventually exporting clean energies abroad as countries transition to net zero emissions.
“Australia will continue to be a trusted and stable supplier of energy and resources to our key trading partners,” Albanese told audiences according to AFR. “As we work with other nations to reduce emissions globally, we will continue to be a reliable provider of energy.
“Japan and South Korea are already looking to us for their clean energy needs, actively building partnerships with Australian companies on, for example, the supply of green hydrogen.”
The assurances come as two of Australia’s key trading partners Japan and South Korea sought support from the Federal government last month after concerns an LNG gas shortage could create an energy crisis across Asian markets.
Meanwhile, a bill legislating Australia’s new carbon emissions targets is set to pass the senate this week, after the government secured crucial votes needed to pass the bill from independent senator David Pocock. Yesterday, Greens leader Adam Bandt introduced another bill aimed at blocking the construction of new fossil fuel projects in Australia.
Today I introduced a bill to give Australia’s environment laws a ‘climate trigger’.
Our environment laws can’t continue to ignore carbon emissions. We need to stop all new coal and gas – and this will give the Minister another power to stop these projects in their tracks. pic.twitter.com/hDLrkk6CcV
— Adam Bandt (@AdamBandt) September 5, 2022
Dubbed a “climate trigger”, the bill is aimed at plugging loopholes in environmental laws which allow new coal and gas projects to be constructed without assessing their contribution to future climate emissions, which is crucial to preventing global warming beyond 1.5 degrees.
Breaking – The @IPC_NSW has just approved the Mt Pleasant coal mine expansion. It’s the worst ever project approved by the authority for CO2 emissions and will be responsible for nearly 1 BILLION tonnes of carbon dioxide
— Dominic Geiger (@Dominicjgeiger) September 6, 2022