Greens: Budget shows Australian gov't failed on climate
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The Australian federal government has all but conceded defeat on the environmental front, as demonstrated by the latest budget, the Australian Greens said on Wednesday.
Greens leader Bob Brown said the latest budget has proved the government was giving up on the environment, having already postponed plans for emissions trading until at least 2013.
"They've taken the attitude that they're not going to get brownie points for the environment, so they're not going to try," Brown told ABC Radio on Wednesday.
"The environment has been unduly punished. They've really hit it hard."
For all the government's smugness on economic management, Senator Brown said the cuts put environment jobs at risk, and consequently the economy at large.
The government had lost a golden opportunity to apply a direct carbon tax as recommended by climate guru Ross Garnaut, Brown said.
Senator Brown doubted whether a government under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will ever introduce an emissions trading scheme, saying it was simply off the agenda.
Treasurer Wayne Swan on Tuesday night has revealed the budget for 2010/11.
