In embarrassing evidence given today before the Victorian Parliament's Public Accounts and Estimates Committee, the Andrews Labor Government has again failed to detail when it would announce emissions reduction targets to enable Victoria to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
In evidence given today, the Secretary of the Department of Environment, John Bradley, confirmed the Department had given advice to the Andrews Government on emissions reduction targets but the Andrews Labor Government had failed to do anything.
In contrast, the Victorian Liberal Nationals have already announced policies to reduce emissions and combat climate change, including:
- Zero to Landfill, using waste as a low emissions energy source;
- Container Deposit Scheme, recycling and reducing harmful impacts on the environment
Back in 2017, theAndrews Labor Government introducedthe Climate Change Act which mandated the Government to set emission reduction targets in order to combat the effects of climate change. The Government received an Expert Panel Report in June 2019 making recommendations on how to reduce emissions, but has sat on it for 18 months and done nothing to plan how Victoria is going to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
The Climate Change Act required Daniel Andrews and his Minister to set interim reduction targets for the 2025 and 2030 by 31 March 2020, nearly a year ago, and release its Climate Change Strategy by 31 October 2020, yet so far they have dismally failed to comply with any of these laws.
In hearings held in December last year Lily D'Ambrosio, Minister for Climate Change, said the Government's strategy would be released in a "few weeks".That was more than 2 months ago and the Andrews Labor Government is still refusing to set targets to provide people and industry the certainty they need. In stark contrast, New South Wales announced in March last year, during the pandemic, that it would reduce its emissions by 35% by 2030.
As stated by Shadow Minister for Environmentand Climate Change, Bridget Vallence:
"It's time for Daniel Andrews and Labor to come clean with Victorians and admit if they can't meet their own zero emissions target.
"It's a major embarrassment that the Andrews Labor Government can't even comply with its own Climate Change laws and set important targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide the Victorian community and industry the certainty needed.
"Daniel Andrews and Labor cannot be trusted when it comes to tackling climate change: they've sat on the expert panel report for more than 18 months and received advice from their own Department, but have still failed to comply with the law and announce emissions reduction targets."
