The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has hit back at the Greens after the party flagged its intention to push Labor on fossil fuel projects as it revamps the safeguard mechanism to cut industrial emissions.
Following the government’s release of a discussion paper on the measure on Thursday, the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, suggested the party was prepared to use its balance of power position more assertively than it did during negotiations over the legislation to enshrine the 43% emissions reduction target.
The mechanism, which is needed to cut pollution from the country’s biggest polluters, will require legislation to establish new baseline settings for emission limits, which will also put in place a new credit trading scheme.
However, Labor is confident the legislative elements of the policy will have bipartisan support, limiting the Greens’ ability to secure any concessions from the government as the bill goes through the Senate.
The new rules are slated to come into effect in July next year, with legislation to be enacted by March.
Industrial emissions covered under the safeguard mechanism account for 28%, or 137m tonnes, of Australia’s emissions, and the government wants the new policy to cut emissions by between 3.5% and 6% a year.
The task to reduce emissions will also depend on the number of new entrants and economic growth, with the paper outlining a more ambitious abatement task depending on how much the industrial sector grows.
In a scenario of “modest” emissions growth of 0.5% each year, safeguard facilities would contribute about 170m tonnes of abatement to 2030.
Growth of 2% annually would increase the abatement task to 230m tonnes.
Bandt said the admission of new coal and gas projects would mean other industries, such as manufacturing, would have to do more to meet the abatement task.
“With the debate now shifting to the safeguard mechanism changes, the government will not be able to avoid the issue of new coal and gas,” Bandt said.
“With the government’s low targets and new fossil fuel projects, the pollution from new coal and gas being burnt overseas will dwarf any emissions cuts made at home.”
He said the Greens would use its balance of power in the Senate on the legislation and regulation required to change the safeguard mechanism to push the government on new coal and gas projects, including Scarborough in Western Australia and Beetaloo in the Northern Territory.
But Albanese accused the Greens of seeking “product differentiation” with Labor, and said that, like with its 43% emissions reduction policy, Labor had a mandate.
“The safeguard mechanism will be consistent with what we’ve said during the election campaign. The government has a mandate, we’ll continue to pursue that mandate,” Albanese said.
“The Greens will continue to look for product differentiation for their own political purposes, but what I’m interested in isn’t playing politics with this. I’m interested in making sure that we deliver on the commitments that we made of 43% by 2030 and that includes the safeguards mechanism that has already been put in place.
“What we will do is make sure that that certainty that business is requiring in order to invest goes forward and will be consistent with that.”
The Australian Conservation Foundation also echoed the Greens’ position, saying there was “no room” for new coal and gas projects if Australia wanted to keep its emissions in line with what is required under the Paris climate goals.
It wants the existing mechanism amended to remove multi-year monitoring, and to ensure that renewable energy generators are not used as part of calculations for baseline limits for the energy sector.
“If all electricity generators are lumped together, coal and gas get a free ride by hiding behind renewables’ low emissions profile,” the ACF’s climate program manager, Gavan McFadzean, said.
“This prolongs the life of old power stations, delaying the transition to clean energy.”
The oil and gas industry said on Thursday it was prepared to work “constructively” with the government on the new framework, but emphasised the need for trade-exposed industries to receive concessions.
“The federal government’s commitment to provide tailored treatment to ensure that export-focused businesses are not competitively disadvantaged is important to help ensure the nation decarbonises while keeping our economy strong and resilient,” the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association chief executive, Samantha McCulloch, said.
The discussion paper flags the potential for the government to provide direct financial assistance to trade-exposed and emissions-intensive industries to help them reduce emissions and meet their obligations, rather than providing concessions within the safeguard regime.
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, said there were many complexities in the final design of the scheme, but the government was intent on cutting emissions “substantially”.
“We’re not going to reduce emissions as a country unless we’ve reduced from our biggest emitters,” Bowen told ABC radio on Thursday.
