Dumping clean energy target is 'dealbreaker' for Labor's support

Shadow climate change
minister Mark Butler.

The shadow climate change minister Mark Butler says Labor won’t support the Turnbull government’s new energy policy if it dumps the clean energy target recommended by the chief scientist, Alan Finkel.

With the Turnbull government expected to press ahead with its new energy policy this week after consideration by the cabinet and the party room, Butler issued a clear public warning on Sunday that the loss of the clean energy target meant there was no prospect of bipartisan agreement between the major parties.

Butler said Labor had been prepared to keep an open mind on the clean energy target, even though it was not the opposition’s preferred policy option, because the model had been thought through by the chief scientist and endorsed uniformly by stakeholders across the community.

Read Katharine Murphy’s story on The Guardian - “Dumping clean energy target is 'dealbreaker' for Labor's support.”