The Greens, which are expected to get about 8% of the primary vote in this weekend’s federal election, also want policies to ensure that the impact of mining and infrastructure do not encroach on the Great Barrier Reef, Greens Leader Christine Milne told the ABC.
“We've said we don't want to see an expansion of coal mines and certainly oppose the Bowen and the Galilee basins,” she said.
“In terms of the costs, you have to look at what is the cost of accelerated global warming and what is the cost to the tourism industry and the Great Barrier Reef.”
Milne would not comment on the potential impact of winding down the coal industry in central Queensland.
“Nobody knows what the projected impact of the Bowen or Galilee basins will be,” she said.
“No one has looked at the extent of commonwealth subsidies in terms of driving those industries, but what I am sure of is that there will be a mega cost over time to the Great Barrier Reef.
“In fact, it could see the Great Barrier Reef listed as world heritage in danger, which will not only threaten the reef, but the 63,000 jobs that depend on it and the $6 billion a year that the reef brings to Australia in tourism dollars.”
On the impact on mining jobs, Milne said mining companies were “pretty ruthless themselves in shedding jobs as soon as there is a downturn in commodity prices”
“I'm saying that we would put a levy, for example, on coal exports to put into building resilience in the face of climate change, and actually putting that into infrastructure and preparedness,” she said.
“There is no question of the mining industry closing down in Australia. What we are seeing is the mining industry taking advantage of mega subsidies like fossil fuel subsidies, for example.
“It's being driven at a time when the World Economic Forum says that we should be decoupling economic growth from resource extraction and environmental impact.
“In fact, the Greens are right on the money in terms of where the direction of the economy should be, invest in education, stop university cuts, invest in new technology, don't keep going on a back to the future path.”
