For more than 30 years, Australian politics has been grappling with climate change and the nation's most senior public servants have been there through it all.
These senior policy makers and scientific minds describe climate policy as perhaps the greatest public policy disappointment of their generation, and a story of power and personal ambition triumphing over the national interest. "I do feel that my time was a failure for the greatest thing that could have come out of that time and did not — which was serious action on climate change."
An ETS is not a straight carbon tax. It puts a cap on emissions and requires those who exceed the cap to pay to do so, usually with permits that are tradable in an open market. "It was, in a sense, my greatest achievement. It was, of course, my most abject failure in that, nothing then happened," he said.
"Once the GFC hit, some of those businesses, particularly the ones who were internationally exposed, they were saying, 'Oh, actually, I'm really concerned about my business and I can't really bear any imposition that might come with a scheme at this point," he said. "They are not prepared to compromise in any way. They've got this purist view of the world and they are totally and utterly naive about what's required to get us from where we are today to what is needed."
Just remember. Politics aside, it was the the majority of people that vote against the green policy
Simply those Trogs in the Liberal Party.
“Sensible” politics. Greens copped a “brutal” pineapple. “Climate policy” is redundant.
Not again 😂
ABC focuses on stuff that doesn’t really matter.
You mean: How a real problem showed the irelavence of climate change....
Climate change is a hoax. RE is economic poison. ClimateChangeHoax PlanetoftheHumans
What do you call it when you keep doing the same thing and expect a different outcome?
FatherBob Yep, they chose politics instead of what was good and right for the nation. They dismissed the evidence and experts, just as the right wing movement is doing right now.
Alarmist Penny Sackett 🙄
Ah no , it was the people who voted the climate alarmism away at the last election . Give it up , seriously .
How typical of you ABC.
Seriously, I would be worried about the current wave of restrictions re Covid-19 being lifted. A second wave of outbreaks is very likely based on proven stupidity of those currently roaming Australia - Petri dishing out the virus !!
'For a party that is a validly committed to acting on climate change, to actually tear down what was put in front of them, I think is unconscionable,' Dr Parkinson said. Pure spite by The Greens because it wasn't their idea put us back 20 years.