Government’s gas-led economic recovery plans questioned

Australia should follow the example of New Zealand and a growing number of European nations and design a long-term green stimulus package that both rebuilds the economy and cuts emissions, says the chairman of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, Martijn Wilder.

Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister, Angus Taylor.

“New Zealand policymakers have taken the view that since they are borrowing money [for stimulus] from future generations the manner in which it is spent has to serve those generations,” he said.

So far 17 European Union nations have signed on to a European Green Deal, agreeing to shape their recovery around policies designed to speed up their efforts to reach net-zero emissions.

A letter outlining the plan describes it as, “a new growth strategy that aims to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society, with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050 and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use.”

Read the story from The Age by Nick O’Malley and Mike Foley - “Government’s gas-led economic recovery plans questioned.”