‘Stop Crying Wolf’: Senator Jacqui Lambie Urges the Greens to Support Climate Safeguard Mechanism

Senator Jacqui Lambie reacts as she speaks in the Australian Senate at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on September 3, 2020 . (Photo by David Gray/Getty Images)

Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie has called on the Greens party to drop their demand for a complete ban on new coal and gas projects and approve the Labor government’s climate safeguard mechanism legislation.

In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on March 21, the founder of the Jacqui Lambie Network party said the Greens should stop “crying wolf” and support the safeguard mechanism instead.

The safeguard mechanism is an initiative proposed by the incumbent Labor party, which would mandate Australia’s 215 businesses that emit the highest levels of greenhouse gas cut their emissions by 4.9 percent each year.

“I just think that demand will come in the future. I have no doubts about that. But it’s just not going to happen today,” she said.

“The safeguard is a nice platform to start from. We need a starting point, and we need the safeguard through.

“If the safeguard does not go through, then we'll be debating this all the way through to the next election.”

While Lambie supported the mechanism, she said her party wanted to sort out a couple of issues with Labor.

Specifically, she talked about hundreds of manufacturers across Australia having problems reducing CO2 emissions by 4.9 percent per year due to unavailable technology.

Lambie emphasised that those manufacturers needed to be given a fair way to go through so that Australia would not lose any more manufacturing.

The Senator also said the Labor government understood the issue and that the matter was now about what emissions rate it would come up with.

“It’s certainly won’t be 4.9 percent because, like I said, that technology is just not there. And you cannot do that to somebody when technology is not there,” she said.

“This is a good one to start with this, and we can continue to build and add to the safeguards and reduce our emissions over the next five to 10 years.”

Lambie’s remarks come as Labor, and the Greens are still butting heads over banning new coal and gas projects.

The Dispute between Labor and the Greens

In order for Labor to push the safeguard mechanism through the parliament, it needs the support of the Greens and some independent Senators in the upper house, as the Coalition said it would oppose the legislation.

In February, the Greens said it wanted the Labor government to promise to stop all new coal and gas projects in Australia in exchange for its support.

While the Greens said the proposal was an offer and not an “ultimatum,” it wanted the government to adjust their positions to get the bill through the Senate.

However, Labor confirmed its stance on not forbidding new coal and gas projects, resulting in a deadlock between the two parties.

Independent Senator David Pocock Joins the Greens’ Side

Meanwhile, pressure has mounted on the Labor government as Independent Senator David Pocock, who represents the Australian Capital Territory, has joined the Greens in pushing for a total ban on new coal and gas projects.

This comes after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a new report on climate change on March 21.

Pocock was concerned about the provision in the safeguard mechanism that permitted the 215 largest emitters to trade carbon credits if they were unable to meet their CO2 reduction quota.

Senator David Pocock speaks during question time at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on July 28, 2022. (Martin Ollman/Getty Images)

“We’re essentially allowing our industrial sector to offset their emissions in the land sector,” he told ABC Radio.

“No other country does that apart from Kazakhstan for very good reason–you want to incentivise actual reductions in emissions rather than allowing fossil fuel companies to use offsets and simply pay to pollute. That’s something I'd really like to see addressed.”

Pointing to the ICCP report, the Senator said Australia had a moral duty to ensure that the safeguard mechanism delivered emissions reductions.

“The way I see it is that the science is very clear that we can’t open new fossil fuel projects and potentially be on the path to a livable future,” he said.

In addition, Pocock disagreed with the idea that Australia needed new coal and gas projects during the transition to renewable energy, saying the country already had plenty of existing gas and coal.

“We export three-quarters of it. And we’ve charged international prices for our own gas. That is a political failure,” he said.

“I'd argue that the solution is not more gas. It’s electrification and helping households get off a really expensive energy source.”

While the senator was unsure whether the legislation could pass the parliament this fortnight, he said it was healthy to have negotiations so that political parties could come up with a mechanism in the right direction.

Victoria Kelly-Clark contributed to this article.