The radical assault on longstanding measures to drive down Australia’s emissions and facilitate decarbonisation seems almost pathological

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The Coalition is repudiating its longstanding policy positions on climate, even to the extent of disowning many of the structures it created when in government. Such thinking is not from the conservative tradition and has more in common with the radical. In my view, it is an abandonment of the Liberal traditions and values that have long sustained the party’s success.

The Coalition wants to remove net zero targets from Australian law, abolish the Net Zero Economy Agency, reform (read diminish) the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation as well as remove the electric vehicle tax concession, battery rebates and Scope 3 emission reporting requirements. It intends to cancel the annual Climate Change Statement to Parliament and remove the statutory mandate of the Climate Change Authority to advise on future targets.