Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has denied that Pacific leaders are frustrated with Australia’s approval of fossil fuel projects, saying the country is respected for its role in combatting climate change.
The question came from a journalist who referenced Resources Minister Madeleine King’s ceremonial opening of gas fracking works in the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory, who said Pacific leaders looked to Albanese and said, “you are the problem”.
Albanese responded: “No, they, they don’t do that. Australia is highly regarded when it comes to climate change, and the talking down of Australia does not happen from outside Australia. I’ll make that point. The Pacific leaders have respect for the position that we’ve taken, and they also understand with the transition because they’re dealing with it as well.
“That the transition can’t happen overnight; that it requires strategies and policies to be put in place. And one of the things that renewables requires is firming capacity, and gas has a role to play in firming capacity. We’ve made that position very clear, and people understand that that is the circumstance,” Albanese said.
The Greens and climate activists have criticised the Beetaloo project as a “climate bomb”, accusing the government of hypocrisy in its stance on climate change and emissions.