Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young commenting from COP26 in Glasgow this morning local time: 

“Mr Morrison has had a disaster of a world trip - from Rome to Glasgow, he has been embarrassed and called out for his lack of trustworthiness and lack of commitment.

“Here in Glasgow Scott Morrison’s word is mud. Rather than being a respected world leader, the Prime Minister is will leave here with a bad reputation for being a blocker, a liar and sop to the fossil fuel industry.

Today in senate estimates, interrogation by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young revealed that fossil fuel industry go-to modeller Brian Fisher was contracted to oversee and verify the cabinet modelling for net zero.

The Greens have slammed the government’s knee-jerk climate denialism as the world delivers yet another stark warning that we risk losing the Great Barrier Reef.

Quotes attributable to Greens Leader, Adam Bandt:

“It’s coal or the reef, but you can’t have both. 

“The Great Barrier Reef is under threat because of the mining and burning of coal and gas. 

“We have ten years to save the Reef, but on the same day the Reef is put on death watch, Liberal and Labor support opening up new gas fields.

With the elevation of coal-hugging Barnaby Joyce to the Deputy Prime Ministership, the Greens will renew focus on coal and 2030 climate targets in winnable inner-city seats held by Liberals, as part of the party’s push to secure balance of power in a minority Parliament at the next election.

The Greens have rebuked the Morrison government’s plan to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on a gas plant announced the very same day that the International Energy Agency made it clear that a safe climate means no new fossil fuel projects, starting now.

In a separate attack on Australia’s economy and climate, the government has quietly amended the ARENA rules to allow the renewables agency to invest in fossil fuels coal and gas.

Lines from Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt MP:

Plans to spend nearly $60 million more of taxpayers money on gas projects will result in a slower transition to renewable energy in Australia. Budget plans leaked today show the government is determined to undermine any efforts, market or otherwise, to reduce emissions.

This comes a day after an executive veto by a Minister on a Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund to invest in a renewable energy project in Queensland.

The Greens will move to outlaw Scott Morrison’s plan to fund a new gas-fired power plant in the Upper Hunter, moving when parliament resumes to block the use of taxpayer funds on new fossil fuels. 

Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt MP said the Prime Minister now had the weekend to decide whether he wanted to throw up to $600 million at a power plant that serves no purpose other than to accelerate global heating.

Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, has described Prime Minister Scott Morrison as an utter embarrassment and a threat to Australia’s safety after Australia’s weak climate action stood in contrast to a host of nations, including our biggest trading partners, lifting their 2030 targets at President Biden’s Climate Summit.

“We are heading towards a climate cliff and as Joe Biden desperately tries to stop us going over the edge, Scott Morrison refuses to lift 2030 targets and Labor backs him in,” said Mr Bandt.