Steve Brennan: I did vote Labor at the last election and was deluded by the party’s lies about climate action.
What Bernard Keane writes is absolutely true about Labor’s capture by the fossil fuel industry. It actually leaves me speechless how disgusting and irresponsible this position is.
Labor has created this “Future Made in Australia” fund, which implies Australia will become more self-sufficient, but handing out money to American tech start-ups and exporting more gas at the expense of taxpayers for foreign-owned fossil fuel companies is about as far away from this outcome as you can imagine.
There is no doubt in my mind now that Labor is just as bad as the Coalition and the previous Morrison government in wasting enormous sums of taxpayer money on things that are designed to benefit vested interests and things that damage us.
Labor will be punished at the election: no sensible person will listen to the lies and nonsense the party proclaims as good policy.
Peter Barry writes: It is extremely disappointing that Labor has become the enabler of companies that will accelerate catastrophic global heating. At the same time as the announcement of massive new gas projects, a recent report shows that even on present trends, global warming is on track to well exceed two degrees.
The graphs of CO2 and methane levels continue their inexorable rise, and greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow each year despite large investments in renewables. Large fossil fuel producers have abandoned undertakings to wind back exploration and extraction. We are on a path to hell. Net zero by 2050 is a mournful joke. Labor deserves to be thrown out of office at the earliest opportunity, with the Greens and independents holding the balance of power. What other choice is there?
Dr Richard Ruffin writes: I feel absolutely betrayed by the Labor government releasing the “Future Gas Strategy”, which ignores the scientific evidence of the need for effective action, and the calls by a range of respected groups that there should be no new coal or gas mining or drilling operations. Part of the reasoning in the strategy appears to be related to unproven technology, such as carbon capture and storage, and dependent on scam offsets such as human-induced regeneration.
Hope is being taken away from the population. Decisions appear to be driven by corporate interests rather than public interest. Where is our democracy heading? Where is the Labor government’s duty of care for the future well-being of Australians?
Allen Brown: My disillusion with Labor is now complete. Now, more than ever, we need to vote in Greens and teal-type independents to hold the balance of power and work to avert irreversible global warming.
David Simpson: This is a cunning plan, well worthy of Blackadder. Labor supports the expansion of the fossil fuel industry, which in turn leads to more voters switching to Greens and teals. They then hold the balance of power in the next Parliament, which enables the passage of more effective climate legislation than Labor (and its union and lobbyist mates) would be able to achieve alone. Dastardly simple. I hope it works.
