The Australian Conservation Foundation has released a strongly-worded statement on Peter Dutton’s fence-sitting on climate change:

Mr Dutton, denying climate change puts people and nature in harm’s way

Peter Dutton’s responses on climate change in last night’s leaders’ debate, along with a string
of climate damaging policies, reveal the Coalition is out of touch on a major issue affecting
voters’ lives, the Australian Conservation Foundation said.

“It’s a serious concern that one of the candidates vying to be Australia’s prime minister is
unwilling to stand up and say climate change is real, is happening and is affecting Australia,”
said ACF CEO Kelly O’Shanassy.
“For Mr Dutton to fall back on the old climate deniers’ line – I’m not a scientist – in last night’s
leaders’ debate was deeply disturbing at a time when Australia desperately needs to get
serious about tackling the climate crisis.

“If Mr Dutton harbours any doubts about climate change’s impact on Australia, he only needs
to look at his home state of Queensland where the Great Barrier Reef has suffered its sixth
mass coral bleaching event in a decade, the west of the state has been hit by its worst flooding
in 50 years and Queenslanders are still mopping up after Cyclone Alfred.

“The Coalition is offering voters nothing on climate change.

“In fact, its policies would be worse than doing nothing. It intends to slow and reduce the
rollout of renewables, weaken the safeguard mechanism, effectively scrap vehicle emissions
standards, increase expensive gas for domestic use and export, keep coal-fired power stations
open longer, go wobbly on the Paris Agreement, offer no 2030 or 2035 emissions reduction
target and no pathway to get Australia to net zero by 2050.

“ACF’s comprehensive assessment of parties’ and candidates’ climate and nature policies had
to give the Coalition a score of 1 out of 100.

“While Labor scored a bare pass (54/100), the Coalition’s 1/100 is the lowest mark for the
Liberal and National parties’ environment policies in two decades of ACF election scorecards.
“The next parliament is the last parliament that can get Australia’s massive contribution to
climate change under control. If you are not up for the task, you don’t deserve the job of
Prime Minister.

“We urge all Australians to look their family members in the eye before heading to the polls
and use their vote to elect a parliament that will protect our climate, wildlife and kids.”