HUNT CAN'T GET ANYTHING RIGHT

Media Release

Mark Butler MP.

Shadow Minister for Environment
 Climate Change and Water

Date:  14 October 2014

Only a few days after his embarrassing commitment to the non-existent walrus populations in Antarctica, Environment Minister Greg Hunt is still getting the fundamentals of his portfolio wrong.

This morning on ABC’s AM program, Greg Hunt claimed the Government’s climate policy dud, Direct Action, would reduce the cost of living for families.

 “…$2.5 billion to do practical things to reduce the cost of living for families”

Greg Hunt, ABC AM, 14 October 2014

“The Direct Action policy involves giving $2.5bn of tax-payers’ money to big polluters, despite all evidence suggesting the policy will not meet its targets,” Shadow Climate Change Minister Mark Butler said.

“This policy won’t reduce Australia’s carbon pollution and it won’t do anything to reduce the burden on families imposed by the Government’s unfair Budget.

“Greg Hunt is getting the lines from the Prime Minister’s Office confused.

"Direct Action is not designed to reduce anything – not costs for families or carbon pollution. It’s just an additional burden on the Budget bottom line which is a complete waste of money,” Mr Butler said.

The Environment Minister is fast collecting a number of factual faux pas, including his request in 2012 for the then Environment Minister Tony Burke to protect the long-extinct Tasmanian Tiger and relying on Wikipedia for his climate change information rather than the Bureau of Meteorology.

“Mr Hunt is right about one thing – Labor will not support the Government’s plan to spend billions of tax-payers’ dollars on a plan that no economist or climate scientist thinks will work,” Mr Butler said.

“Direct Action is little more than a dressed up slush fund. The Government should scrap this policy, along with its Paid Parental Leave scheme, and redirect those funds towards meaningful assistance for families doing it tough because of the Budget.”