THE CLIMATE COUNCIL has described climate funding in the Federal Budget as ‘a warm up lap in history’s most important race’. 

While the Budget contains welcome temporary power bill relief and measures for some households and businesses to tap into renewables, it doesn’t meet the scale of the climate emergency Australia faces.

Amanda McKenzie, CEO of the Climate Council said: 

“The measures in this budget for cost of living are, for the most part, temporary. This is a missed opportunity to permanently lower people’s power bills. To meet the climate challenge head on, Australia needs to urgently unlock the most affordable energy source available, renewables.

“Sure, this Budget provides renewables assistance to 170,000 households. But when you consider the critical challenge of electrifying everything with renewable power, backed with storage, for 10.8 million households, that barely gets us off the starting blocks.

“The Labor Government has demonstrated in this Budget that they want to support Australians who are struggling. Climate change makes every Australian vulnerable, so the scale of investment on climate action needs to match the task ahead of us.

“We can’t settle for a slow jog when the climate crisis calls for a sprint. Climate change is already reshaping our world, the government needs to fundamentally re-shape budgets to tackle it.”

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For interviews please contact Jane Gardner on 0438 130 905 or email jane.gardner@climatecouncil.org.au 

Media please note Tim Buckley, Founder and Director of Climate Energy Finance is also available for comment on climate/the Budget via 0428 278 880.

The Climate Council is Australia’s leading community-funded climate change communications organisation. We provide authoritative, expert and evidence-based advice on climate change to journalists, policymakers, and the wider Australian community.

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