WEBVTT - Chris Bowen’s climate consolation prize

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<v Speaker 1>From The Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Christinamiot.

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<v Speaker 1>It's Wednesday, July one, twenty twenty six. First home buyers

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<v Speaker 1>risk ending up in negative equity if house prices tumble,

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<v Speaker 1>and an analysis by The Australian shows auction clearance rates

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<v Speaker 1>in regions popular among new property investors are dropping faster

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<v Speaker 1>than in capital cities. Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy says

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<v Speaker 1>a broken system has caused massive cost blowouts in his

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<v Speaker 1>own department. In an address to the National Press Club

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<v Speaker 1>this week, he'll sprook the ability of the government's new

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<v Speaker 1>procurement scheme to get things under control. Post stories alive

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<v Speaker 1>right now at the Australian dot com dot au. Australians

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<v Speaker 1>want action on climate change, just not too fast. That's

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<v Speaker 1>the take from Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen,

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<v Speaker 1>who's spoken exclusively to The Australian ahead of a huge

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<v Speaker 1>global climate summit where he's promising Australia will reject any

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<v Speaker 1>radical policy changes. That's today's episode. Every year, a bunch

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<v Speaker 1>of nations get together in a different location to make

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<v Speaker 1>a plan to save the planet. It's called the Coalition

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<v Speaker 1>of the Parties. Or COP and it's the United Nations

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<v Speaker 1>Annual Climate Change Conference. This year, Australia's Climate Change and

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<v Speaker 1>Energy Minister, Chris Bowen really wanted the seat at the

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<v Speaker 1>head of the table, but it wasn't to be.

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<v Speaker 2>Top thirty one. The rights will instead be given to Turkey.

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<v Speaker 2>After ongoing business debates between both countries for more than

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<v Speaker 2>a year now, Turkey's president refused to back down on

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<v Speaker 2>his beard despite Australia having the most support.

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<v Speaker 1>Greg Brown is the Australian's chief political correspondent and Greg Crishen,

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<v Speaker 1>the Climate Change and Energy Minister, really fought for Australia

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<v Speaker 1>to host the upcoming COP thirty one summit, which will

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<v Speaker 1>take place in November. We ultimately lost the hosting gig

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<v Speaker 1>to Turkey. But Bowen himself has come out of that

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<v Speaker 1>with the title of President of Negotiations for COP thirty one.

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<v Speaker 1>What does that actually mean in practice.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, it's the consolation prize where I think you do

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<v Speaker 3>a lot of the work, but you don't get you

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<v Speaker 3>don't get on the podium at the end. So his

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<v Speaker 3>job fundamentally is to lead the negotiations of all the

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<v Speaker 3>countries that are signed up to Paris to see what

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<v Speaker 3>they can actually gain consensus on so they can move

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<v Speaker 3>forward on taking more action on climate change. He's come

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<v Speaker 3>under a lot of pressure for it, given that we're

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<v Speaker 3>facing troubles here at home obviously with fuel security and

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<v Speaker 3>the cost of living crisis, but he's firmly talking up

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<v Speaker 3>that him doing this role as very much in Australia's

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<v Speaker 3>national interests.

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<v Speaker 1>Greek spoke with Chris Bowen at Parliament House. You'll hear

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<v Speaker 1>snippets of audio from that interview throughout this episode.

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<v Speaker 4>I think the majority of Australia the leaving climate change

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<v Speaker 4>and the leaving taking action on it. But I think

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<v Speaker 4>action and plate change is an essential tipping of the

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<v Speaker 4>ticket to be regarded as a serious party of government

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<v Speaker 4>in Australian twenty twenty sis.

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<v Speaker 1>Bowen is in charge of the clean energy transition, but

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<v Speaker 1>our economy is still very much reliant on fossil fuels.

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<v Speaker 3>So he's really used this opportunity to talk up the

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<v Speaker 3>government's efforts that we have massively diversified where we're by

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<v Speaker 3>fuel and crude oil from. So previously we were by

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<v Speaker 3>ninety percent of our fuel from Asia and they were

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<v Speaker 3>buying their crude oil from the Middle East largely that

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<v Speaker 3>was coming through the strata formals, so there was obviously

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<v Speaker 3>problems potentially down the road for Australia when this war started.

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<v Speaker 3>But he talks about some of the government actions, including

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<v Speaker 3>through underwriting fuel cargoes that has helped Australia buy fuel

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<v Speaker 3>from places like Argentina, Algeria, the United States, really diversify

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<v Speaker 3>where we're getting our petrol and diesel and jet fuel from.

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<v Speaker 3>So his argument is that this helps promote Australia's existing

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<v Speaker 3>agenda and gives it more influence. And he actually makes

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<v Speaker 3>the point that the Canadian President Mark Karney was in

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<v Speaker 3>Federal Parliament earlier this year and he really talked up

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<v Speaker 3>the need for active middle powers to play a graative

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<v Speaker 3>role in international diplomacy. Obviously, this is in relation to

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<v Speaker 3>Donald Trump going a bit off the script typically now.

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<v Speaker 3>Chris Bowen links it back to Mark Carney's speech in

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<v Speaker 3>Parliament and says this is an example of Australia being

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<v Speaker 3>an active middle power.

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<v Speaker 5>The world will always.

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<v Speaker 3>Be driven by great powers, but it can also be

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<v Speaker 3>shaped by middle powers that trust each other and act

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<v Speaker 3>with speed and purpose. So he's very much of the

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<v Speaker 3>view that this helps Australia push out interests. He says

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<v Speaker 3>it's actually in Australia's economic interest as well.

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<v Speaker 4>This is Australia acting as a middle power, like stepping

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<v Speaker 4>up to rather negotiations.

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<v Speaker 6>That's middle power times. He has absolute.

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<v Speaker 3>Best now as far as the substantive movements forward. He's

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<v Speaker 3>not talking this up as being a massive cop when

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<v Speaker 3>it will be held in Turkey Lady this year. In fact,

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<v Speaker 3>he says he's not expecting any massive change. He's expecting

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<v Speaker 3>a step in the right direction.

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<v Speaker 4>It's not a cock whether you should expect either massive

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<v Speaker 4>massive breakthroughs or massive massive setbacks.

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<v Speaker 6>It's a cock where I think I'm confident with the

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<v Speaker 6>new making progress.

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<v Speaker 3>He points out that there have been some international climate

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<v Speaker 3>change conferences like Copenhagen back when Kevin Rudd was Prime

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<v Speaker 3>Minister that were disasters amounted to nothing, and there've been

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<v Speaker 3>others like Paris that led to the Paris Agreement. He

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<v Speaker 3>thinks this will be a more iterative process. He says

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<v Speaker 3>there is growing momentum for some sort of an agreement

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<v Speaker 3>on electrification more energy from electricity, and he's ruling out

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<v Speaker 3>pushing or being part of any deal that will limit

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<v Speaker 3>coal and gas exports, which I think will be one

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<v Speaker 3>one thing Australian industry would be happy about.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you think that's a reaction to some of the

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<v Speaker 1>labor policies that have been introduced recently that haven't been

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<v Speaker 1>received particularly well by business and by the mining sectors.

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<v Speaker 3>This has been one that they've been very careful on

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<v Speaker 3>for quite a few years, and it's always one that

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<v Speaker 3>comes up at COP conferences because they're quite a number

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<v Speaker 3>of countries that don't have big fossil fuel industries that

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<v Speaker 3>think that this is a no brainer. But he's making

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<v Speaker 3>very clear that his position as the top negotiator, it's

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<v Speaker 3>not even on the agenda for this COP. This was

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<v Speaker 3>a key issue for why Anthony Albanesi even became Prime

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<v Speaker 3>Minister in twenty twenty two because Bill Shorten, if you remember,

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<v Speaker 3>got in all sorts of trouble over what to do

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<v Speaker 3>about the Adani Mine, whether labors supported it, whether they'd

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<v Speaker 3>moved to effectively block it, that sort of thing. So

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<v Speaker 3>Anthony Albanesi has really made a point in saying that

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<v Speaker 3>coal exports, fossil fuel exports are separate from domestic emissions

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<v Speaker 3>and Australia will not do anything to limit those exports.

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<v Speaker 3>That's a matter for international demand, and that's been a

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<v Speaker 3>consistent position that the Albanese government has pushed overseas as well.

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<v Speaker 3>They haven't signed up to anything that would limit fossil

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<v Speaker 3>fuel exports. So politically it's a no brainer. And Chris

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<v Speaker 3>Balen is making the point that his personal views will

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<v Speaker 3>remain even when he's doing a job that's a bit broader.

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<v Speaker 1>Why if he didn't feel or doesn't feel that Cop

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<v Speaker 1>thirty one would move the dial in a major way?

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<v Speaker 1>Did he fight so hard for Australia to host it?

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<v Speaker 3>Do you think the other side of the coin is

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<v Speaker 3>that you could have We have seen momentum go backwards.

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<v Speaker 3>So his point will be that under his leadership in negotiations,

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<v Speaker 3>Australia is playing its part in the trajectory moving forward. Yes,

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<v Speaker 3>it's not going to be a major step forward, as

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<v Speaker 3>he says, but the trend will continue that the world

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<v Speaker 3>will at least commit to whether they're actually doing it

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<v Speaker 3>or others another thing altogether, but the world will actually

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<v Speaker 3>commit to taking greater action on climate change.

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<v Speaker 1>Coming up Lessons from Farah on climate policy. A by

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<v Speaker 1>election happened in the electorate of FARRR in May, following

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<v Speaker 1>the departure after twenty five years of former Liberal leader

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<v Speaker 1>Susan Lee that was ultimately won by the One Nation

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<v Speaker 1>candidate David Valley, that was hotly contested by the Teel

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<v Speaker 1>Independent Michelle Milthorpe. What does Chris Bowen say about the

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<v Speaker 1>appetite for climate policy in the electorate, particularly following that

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<v Speaker 1>by election.

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<v Speaker 3>We had an interesting discussion in the interview about the

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<v Speaker 3>politics of climate change given the rise of One Nation.

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<v Speaker 3>So obviously the coalition walked away from net zero at

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<v Speaker 3>the end of last year.

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<v Speaker 7>Mission Our emission's reduction goals will never come at the

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<v Speaker 7>expense of Australian families and this is the principle that

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<v Speaker 7>will guide every decision we take.

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<v Speaker 3>One Nation's position is even more opposed to any action

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<v Speaker 3>on emission's production whatsoever. They actually want to build new

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<v Speaker 3>cold fire power stations and use taxpayers support to do that.

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<v Speaker 5>One Nation cares and the energy policy we will implement

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<v Speaker 5>works only in the national interest. Our energy policy puts

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<v Speaker 5>our country in its people first. We will not allow

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<v Speaker 5>Australia to be burned. But on the altar of climate

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<v Speaker 5>change and netsero being driven by un zalots wanting to

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<v Speaker 5>control everything into poverty.

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<v Speaker 3>But Chris Bold denies that the rise of one Nation

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<v Speaker 3>has anything to do with the community anxiety of taking

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<v Speaker 3>action on climate change. He says that the evidence shows

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<v Speaker 3>that the coalition walking away from net zero has only

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<v Speaker 3>been bad for them.

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<v Speaker 6>What has been the result? I feel sensing away from

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<v Speaker 6>them in power?

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<v Speaker 2>You know?

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<v Speaker 6>Did that work for them? So?

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<v Speaker 4>And I would argue by actions, the outer suburbs and

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<v Speaker 4>regions are getting on with it, and yes it's allowed debate,

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<v Speaker 4>but quiet as already be on it.

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<v Speaker 3>He says that having good credentials to take action on

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<v Speaker 3>climate change is still a big factor Australians want and

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<v Speaker 3>it's a necessary factor. And being a party of government.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you think we'll see any Liberals lining up for

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<v Speaker 1>a job at the next COP summit if it all

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<v Speaker 1>goes to plan for Chris.

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<v Speaker 3>Bowen somehow, I don't think that Liberals or Nationals lining

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<v Speaker 3>up at Copple wanting to have anything to do with

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<v Speaker 3>the COP summit is going to be part of the script.

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<v Speaker 1>Greg Brown, thank you very much.

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<v Speaker 3>Thank you, Kristen.

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<v Speaker 1>Greg Brown is The Australian's chief political correspondent. You can

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<v Speaker 1>read all the latest from Parliament right now at the

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<v Speaker 1>Australian dot com dot au