Community right to feel Albanese having it both ways on climate
When Bill Shorten led the ALP, a mural entitled 'Two Face' appeared in Melbourne during a byelection for the then-seat of Batman. Artist Scott Marsh portrayed the opposition leader as a scarf-clad opponent of the Adani Carmichael coal mine and as an advocate for Queensland jobs in high-vis and a hard hat.
Shorten won that battle only to lose the war a year later and make way for Anthony Albanese. While the mural is gone, and Labor is now entrenched on the government benches, the duality Marsh depicted persists.
When then-environment minister Tanya Plibersek postponed a decision on extending the life of Woodside's North West Shelf gas plant in March, there was one eye on those voters concerned about the environment and our response to the challenge of global warming.
With victory secured, Plibersek was replaced with Murray Watt, whose first major announcement was an extension of the plant's life until 2070.
Albanese can argue he has a solid mandate for this decision. The release last year of Labor's Future Gas Strategy made it clear that this country would continue to export gas, support gas users at home and encourage the finding and opening of new gas fields, while working to offset the emissions created. As the prime minister reiterated at a Canberra press conference on Monday: 'It's net zero, not zero.'
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By pushing out the North West Shelf licence far beyond 2050, when net zero is to be achieved, the government has signalled to Woodside that its plans for the massive Browse gas field off the coast of Broome in Western Australia may also gain favour.
Such a move would be inconsistent with the policies the International Energy Agency has set out for limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. In its 2021 report, Net Zero by 2050, the IEA states that 'there are no new oil and gas fields approved for development in our pathway'.
The Future Gas Strategy says little about how reducing reliance on gas is to be achieved.
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