Australian gov't urged to tackle climate before election
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A new survey showed Australian voters were desperate for political leadership on climate change, the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) on Monday said.
Auspoll last Tuesday and Wednesday asked 1,500 Australians about climate change and the next federal election.
When asked who of Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her opposition counterpart Tony Abbott they trusted more to deliver on the issues of pollution and climate change, 43 percent of respondents thought there was no difference between them.
That figure increased to 58 percent of undecided voters.
Forty-five percent of this group also said they would be more likely to vote Labor if Gillard promised to negotiate and deliver a pollution reduction scheme in the next year.
ACF chief executive Don Henry, who commissioned the survey, said the results proved that tackling climate change was still important to many Australians, even if politicians had abandoned the issue.
"The public is crying out for leadership and the issue is there for the politicians to pick up," Henry told Australian Associated Press.
"Whether it's the Greens, Labor or the coalition, whoever comes forward with action on the climate is going to be clearly rewarded in the polls."
Henry said voters were disappointed that Labor Party, which campaigned hard on the issue ahead of the 2007 election, had now mothballed plans for an emissions trading scheme (ETS).
"There's no doubt that this poll, and other polls over the last month, show that there's a lot of frustration with Labor for not taking strong action on climate change," he said.
"Frustration they haven't delivered on their promises and the coalition doesn't have a strong suite of policies either."
Former Democrats Senator Andrew Bartlett, who has been standing as a Greens candidate in the seat of state Brisbane, said climate change will feature prominently during the election campaign.
"People who have no belief in climate change and don't think we need to do anything serious have a champion in Tony Abbott," Bartlett said.
"We have the Greens there as a champion for action that matches what the vast majority of science says is needed.
"I think Labor has got to pick a side, frankly."
Meanwhile, the Climate Institute said the lack of an emissions trading scheme and price on carbon was causing electricity prices to rise by as much as 13 percent.
CEO John Connor said businesses cannot plan for the future.
"(Power) plants that live for 35 to 50 years are in an uncertain place right now and that uncertainty is forcing bad decisions or sub-optimal decisions," Connor told ABC Radio's AM.
"They are building more expensive short-term peaking plants rather than making the long-term decisions that greater certainty would help them make."
Connor said consumers will be hit with the extra costs.
"The work the Climate Institute has done with our climate partners shows that in 2020 the economy will be paying more than 2 billion dollars (1.75 billion U.S. dollars) more than necessary," he said.
"That equates to 60 dollars (52.5 U.S. dollars) a year for households."
Federal cabinet was expected on Tuesday to frame a climate change policy involving re-announcing renewable energy projects in a final clearing of the decks for the next election. Enditem
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