Australia’s Environment and Foreign Affairs Ministers have decided repealing the carbon price legislation is more important that attending a major United Nations conference to discuss a new global climate change treaty.
As a result a diplomat rather than a senior minister of the conservative Liberal-National government will represent Australia next week at the international climate talks in Poland aimed at securing an agreement to cut global carbon emissions.
News Limited media reports Environment Minister Greg Hunt will not attend the annual Conference of the Parties (COP) meeting, as he has said he will be busy repealing Australia’s carbon price legislation in the first fortnight of parliament.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will also not attend.
News Limited reports neither her parliamentary secretary Brett Mason nor Mr Hunt’s deputy, Simon Birmingham, have been delegated to attend.
Instead, Australia’s Climate Change Ambassador Dr Justin Lee, who is based in the Department of Foreign Affairs, will represent Australia.
Mr Hunt said through a spokesman that he would be “fully engaged in repealing the carbon tax” while the conference was underway.
The Environment Minister, who’d been expected to attend the talks, yesterday cancelled scheduled briefings on the Warsaw talks with business representatives, lobby groups and foreign diplomats.
Asked about the decision, Mr Hunt’s spokesman said the talks were a foreign affairs issue.
Australia’s stance at the upcoming meeting, which runs from November 11 to 22, was due to be considered by federal cabinet on Monday.
News Limited reports lobby groups said other nations were anxious to see what role Australia would play in global climate change negotiations under the new conservative Liberal-National government.
Speaking to reporters this morning, Mr Hunt said Australian delegates to next week’s UN climate summit in Poland will seek a “deep, strong international agreement”.
On the carbon price repeal, Mr Hunt said there was “no excuse” for savings from abolishing the impost not to be passed on to consumers through electricity bills.
He said Labor should not stand in the way of the repeal legislation when it is introduced to parliament next week.
“The only person standing between Australians and lower electricity prices is (Labor leader) Bill Shorten.”
However major industry groups have cast doubt on the government claims that electricity prices will be lowered if the carbon price is abolished.
At the same time the Labor opposition has said it will not support the repeal unless it is part of legislation to introduce a Emissions Trading Scheme (
