The federal government delivered another budget for the billionaire class that runs Australia and is hell-bent on putting their profits ahead of the climate emergency.
Climate Change
The Labor party’s stage-managed policy conference was a clear demonstration that leader Anthony Albanese plans to continue the party’s “small target” strategy, offering working people very little in a pandemic recession and climate emergency.
Some of the policies we are proposing that no other party is actively campaigning on include: land rights; net zero emissions within 10 years, bringing strategic monopolised sectors of the economy into democratic public ownership, restricting residential rent increases to the consumer price index, 30,000 new public housing dwellings in four years and; sustainable transport solutions as a better alternative to both Roe 8 and building an Outer Harbour.
The federal government’s commitment to a gas-led recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, supported by the Labor opposition, means that Australia is on track to reach net zero emissions in 300 years.
The passing of the Greens-initiated motion for a Green New Deal (GND) in Victoria in the Legislative Council on November 11 is a significant step forward.
Online seminar with award-winning writer and editor Bruce Pascoe
Action to reduce emissions is needed now — not in 30 years!
Climate tipping points are being passed and the Coalition government, Labor and the Greens are failing to come up with an adequate plan to meet this existential challenge.
If there is one thing the recent unprecedented bushfire emergency has proved to us in Australia — and to millions in countries who watched on in horror — is that the climate emergency is not just something to worry about in the future: this is the climate emergency and it is already catastrophic.
The Socialist Alliance has recently updated our Climate Emergency Action Plan (or Climate Charter) that was first developed in 2010.
The 2010 document was groundbreaking. Long before other parties, Socialist Alliance adopted the policy of 100% renewable energy in a ten year period. We took this position as soon as its viability was demonstrated. We were treating the climate crisis as an issue that needed a society-wide emergency response.
The science is clear: to stop runaway warming we will need to create net zero emissions economies and societies well before 2050. At a minimum we need 100% renewable energy by 2030.
Big corporations fund Australia’s two “parties of government”. They received more than $430 million from corporate Australia in the year leading up to the May 2019 federal election. This is a record amount: $150 million more than the previous highest total.