Consultant Dan
27 September 2010
Terms of reference and membership of the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee
Today the Labor Government and the Australian Greens announced the membership and terms of reference of the new Multi-Party Climate Change Committee of the Federal Parliament. It may just be a turning point, bringing about a positive conversation on the most important threat facing the world.
You can read the terms of reference and membership in the Prime Minister’s Media Release and the Media Release from Greens Senator Christine Milne.
The AAP wire is reporting that the Coalition’s climate action spokesman Greg Hunt is saying that joining the Committee would be “repugnant”. He also says the terms of reference may be in breach of the Parliamentary Committee Act. (I can not find any Commonwealth legislation with this title and would like to hear what Constitutional lawyers think of this alleged breach.)
The Coalition’s echo chamber at the Australian will now overflow with objections, complaints and nastiness, starting with this ugly photo of some of the Committee’s key players.
As I’ve written on Crikey’s Rooted blog, the Coalition’s intellectual and political base is under threat from the rise of the Greens and its inability to take climate change seriously.
If the Liberal Party wants to regain its economic credentials, it has to understand the transition to a low-carbon economy and support the communities and firms that are leading the way.
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