In the Senate this afternoon Labor voted to open new gas fields, with its gas code narrowly avoiding a Senate defeat by 16 votes to 21.
Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP said:
“Labor has voted to open new gas fields.
“In the middle of a climate crisis, Labor is gaslighting the public, pretending to take climate action while opening new coal and gas mines.
“Gas is as dirty as coal, and every new Labor gas development puts us on track for an unliveable climate future.
“Labor’s gas code gives big corporations a financial incentive to open new gas fields.
“There’s plenty of gas in Australia to get us through the transition, but Labor is peddling Morrison-era spin that new gas fields are the only answer.
“Labor’s backing for more coal and gas is now clear. Labor backs the Santos’ Narrabri gas project, the Beetaloo climate bomb and Woodside’s Burrup Hub disaster, which contain decades worth of pollution and put a safer climate further out of reach.
“We’re up for regulating the gas corporations and ensuring gas isn’t sent offshore while Australian business transitions, but the experts and climate scientists make it clear that there is no room for new coal or gas if we’re to have any chance of meeting climate targets.