Vote counting for Senate seats continues and the Greens are a strong chance of holding the balance of power in their own right,which means the party could block or approve legislation from the government without support from other minor parties,if the Coalition was opposed.
“This election has delivered a climate mandate for the[Greens] party and independents to push for a plan to deal with coal and gas,[because they] saw their votes go up,” Bandt said. “Liberal and Labor backed more coal and gas and their votes went down.”
Labor went into the campaign promising support for new coal and gas projects,as long as the economic and environmental cases stacked up. It pledged to cut greenhouse emissions by 43 per cent by 2030,but said the future of coal power would be determined by the market.
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The Greens campaigned on a more ambitious agenda,calling for a commitment to hit net zero emissions by 2035,an immediate stop on new coal and gas projects,an end to thermal coal and gas exports by 2030,and a stop to metallurgical coal exports by 2040.
Labor continues to blame its 2019 election loss on the campaign against the Adani coal mine in Queensland,which was spearheaded by the Greens and environment groups. While environment groups appear chastened by Labor’s blame,and have been noticeably quieter in this election,Bandt said there was no question within his party of backing down on fossil fuels.
“New coal and gas projects do not stack up environmentally or economically,” he said. “We are in a climate crisis. You can’t put the fire out while pouring petrol on it.