Labor left behind as international climate changes

The Labor Party has today clearly demonstrated why it cannot be entrusted with the task of addressing climate change – it simply does not understand the issue.

Labor’s foreign affairs spokesman has again repeated his party’s frequent false claim that Australia “won’t have voting rights at the upcoming Bali conference” because we will not ratify the outdated Kyoto Protocol.

The facts are simple, even though they seem constantly to elude the grasp of the Labor Party.

The Bali Conference will be held under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to which Australia is a full party.

Australia will participate fully in that conference, which has as its goal the creation of a new global climate change agreement, to replace the 10-year-old Kyoto Protocol.

Labor’s obsession with Kyoto is blinding it to the rapid change taking place in the international political climate. In New York and Washington this week, the world community is focussing heavily on the development of a post-Kyoto framework.

These meetings are building on the momentum generated from the APEC meeting in Sydney this month, where Australia led efforts to broker an unprecedented climate change agreement among developed and developing nations.

By the time nations come together again in Bali in December, the world’s attention will be firmly focused on achieving a genuine solution to climate change that addresses all major emitters, rather than the 30 percent covered by the Kyoto targets.

Labor’s constant repetition of the falsehood that Australia will not be able to vote at Bali demonstrates it either does not understand this important issue, or it is prepared to misrepresent the facts for domestic political gain.

Either way, it shows the Labor Party simply cannot be trusted with the important task of addressing climate change.

Media Inquiries: Mr Downer's office 02 6277 7500