Labor's faith in carbon capture and storage exposes climate change hypocrisy

You might expect Eden-Monaro MP Kristy McBain, representing an electorate that's suffered so terribly from climate change, might similarly have spoken volubly against Resources Minister Madeline King's move to fire a starting gun for exploration. You'd be wrong.

And ACT Senator Katy Gallagher, supposedly one of the 'inner team' crafting Labor policy? Is she publicly canvassing genuine concerns the newly-approved greenhouse gas "storage areas" off the coast of Western Australia might not actually work? Well, no. This, however, is for a very good reason. The minute anyone admits carbon capture and storage is nothing more than a pretend technology - one that certainly doesn't stack up economically and probably never will scientifically - it becomes obvious Labor's move is simply inspired by a desire to exploit oil and gas reserves just as fast as it can. Admitting this, however, is an insuperable problem for Anthony Albanese because it exposes just how threadbare its commitment to combating global warming actually is.

Which explains Labor's exciting new political strategy. Divide and rule. Say one thing in the inner city and another in the west. Don't worry about logic, just target individual messages to particular voters and hope they never get together to rip the gossamer veil off all the inconsistencies in your policy platform.

That's why Ms King was up in Darwin to wave her chequered flag, giving the go-ahead for the oil and gas giants to 'explore' the seabed. She means 'exploit', of course, but the tentative formulation worked so much better with the focus groups and the drillers all understand what a nod and a wink means; they know they won't be wasting their money. And Ms King is good at her game. That's why she was so enthusiastically spruiking how green this new energy will be. Theoretically, of course, she's right. The only problem is that, practically and unfortunately, it just doesn't work.

If CCS was (a) invented; (b) cheap; and (c) workable it would indeed be 'cleaner' than burning coal. Unfortunately this is exactly the point. Although it might 'reduce' emissions its still pushing more greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. That's why any admission CCS might not be economically or practically feasible is deadly for Labor. It reveals the gossamer nature of Labor's commitment to halting climate change. The party - or perhaps the leader - simply isn't taking the issue seriously.

It's barely 100 days since Mr Albanese became Prime Minister, but the underlying driver propelling his government forward has now become apparent. Separate words from actions and anything can be accomplished. Government is now an exercise in creating your own reality.

Concerned about climate change? Don't worry, Mr Albanese is, too. That's why a fortnight ago he was so "determined" and "committed" to reduce emissions to 43 per cent in 2030. Worried this might actually impact on your standard of living? Don't be. Under an Albanese Labor government no seabed will remain unexploited. Upset this will inevitably increase global warming? Again, not a problem. Now the Prime Minister reaches into his sack of wonders to retrieve a couple of tame scientists who promise - despite all the evidence to the contrary - carbon capture and storage might somehow, someday, actually work.

It's all just a matter of willpower.

Mr Albanese has found his government's purpose. He's confidently driving the country forward into the 1950s; a time of Holden cars, mothers baking lamingtons and edgy, dark-rimmed sunglasses. What he's not about is offering any attempt to deal seriously with the implications of worldwide rising temperatures, global drought, or rising prices and food shortages. This is why last week's move to allow offshore research drilling for oil and gas is so utterly stunning. It clearly reveals the complete and total disconnect between Mr Albanese's rhetoric and his government's actions.

At its centre, at its very heart, this is a government without an agenda.

His new glasses weren't simply a cosmetic makeover to provide him with a '50s groove: they've revealed his genuine world view, reflecting an operating method almost spectacular in its simplicity. How easy life became once the scales fell from his eyes. Reality is nothing more than a mental construct. It's a theory he'll be testing again this week at the much-hyped jobs summit.

It's from Bob Hawke's 30-year-old playbook: bring all the parties together and hammer out a workable compromise and, back in the 80s, it worked. The challenges back them were much simpler than today. It was just a matter of getting workers and bosses to share out profits more equitably and the answer, of course, was to increase the pie through productivity.

Today, however, those easy gains have been banked and it's difficult (if not impossible) to make aged care workers, for example, more productive. Do they feed people needing care faster? Change their beds less often? And how do we boost the efficiency of medical practitioners? Shorter consultations? Prescribing more drugs? There are genuine reforms that will produce greater productivity, however, these won't be achieved by getting 100 people together for a huge talkfest in Canberra while ignoring the external environment.

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The big challenges the country faces at the moment don't come from the difficulty of finding workers to build houses for new immigrants. The real issues the country needs to grapple with come from the immediate consequences of climate change. Floods and fire have devastated Australia over the past three years, yet Mr Albanese's reaction is to ignore this problem and talk about something else.

It's difficult to believe he understands the nature of the huge challenge facing us all. He certainly appears to lack any answers.

The glasses, however, and that ol' 50s vibe?

Looking good. Shame about the lack of vision for the future.