[Greens-Media] MEDIA RELEASE: Prime Minister Turnbull Fudges the Funding for Poorer Countries and Innovation

[Vandeleur, Monique (Sen L. Waters)]

PM TURNBULL FUDGES THE FUNDING FOR POORER COUNTRIES AND INNOVATION
Paris, November 30
Prime Minister Turnbull has got off to a dodgy start at the global climate talks in Paris, fudging the figures in his two major announcements on climate finance and research and development.
“Quite frankly, it’s a bit rich for Malcolm Turnbull to rip money out of the already diminished foreign aid budget, re-package it as as climate finance and then claim it as a gesture of generosity," said Greens Deputy Leader and climate spokesperson Senator Larissa Waters, from Paris.
“His announcement was in complete contrast to the spirit of the Paris conference where we have seen countries like Canada, France and Germany significantly scale up their contributions to meet the climate challenge.
“Similarly, it’s hard to take the PM’s announcement of $100 million into clean energy research seriously when this government cut over double that amount of research and development, and won't take our own clean energy agencies off the chopping block.
“Prime Minister Turnbull is not representing the Australian people at these global climate talks, he is representing his mates in the big coal industry and fudging the figures to save face.
"The PM's embarrassing refusal to sign up to phase out fossil fuel subsidies shows he is just as wedded to the coal industry as his predecessor.
"It's no wonder the government opposed our bill to end cheap fuel and accelerated depreciation for big miners last week in the Senate when today he claimed "Australia has no inefficient fossil fuel subsidies".
"His game of semantics can't hide the over $10 billion in fossil fuel subsidies which dwarfs the pitiful contribution to research and development and to climate finance, shows where the true allegiances of the PM lie.
"Trumpeting ratifying Kyoto 2 rings hollow when both the 2020 and 2030 targets set by Abbott and kept by Turnbull utterly ignore the science, and would see Australia miss out on the economic profitability from transitioning to a clean energy future,” said Senator Waters.

Paris Media Contact: Sophie Trevitt || sophie.trevitt at aph.gov.au<mailto:sophie.trevitt at aph.gov.au> || +61 448 617 970
Aust Media Contact: Monique Vandeleur || monique.vandeleur at aph.gov.au<mailto:monique.vandeleur at aph.gov.au> || 0419 626 725