Tony Abbott says no need to pull out of Paris climate agreement after all

Tony Abbott has changed his mind and now says Australia should stay in the Paris climate agreement.

 Tony Abbott has gone back on his opposition to the
Paris climate agreement, during a debate with his federal
 election opponent in the seat of Warringah, Zali Steggall. 

Abbott, who signed up to Paris when he was prime minister but then declared that Australia should pull out during the prime ministership of Malcolm Turnbull, confirmed he had changed his mind again during a debate on Friday morning with the independent challenger Zali Steggall and other federal election candidates in his seat of Warringah.

Asked by moderator David Speers if his change of heart was due to the ousting of Turnbull as prime minister, Abbott said it partly was.

“I certainly thought that the only way to break the emissions obsession was to pull out of Paris,” he said. “I think that the government has lost its emissions obsession now that Angus Taylor is the energy minister … Circumstances have changed. We have a new prime minister and a new energy minister.”

Read the story from The Guardian by Naaman Zhou - “Tony Abbott says no need to pull out of Paris climate agreement after all.”

(Tony Abbott would not be taking such a stance if he wasn’t feeling threatened by the arrival of Zali Steggall who has a clear policy on helping the residents of Warringah address and deal with climate change. Listen to Zali Steggall during an interview on Climate Conversations - Robert McLean)