A new poll of ACT voters has found majority opposition (82 per cent) to Labor's plans for the unlimited use of carbon offsets to rein in greenhouse gas polluting projects, while pointedly backing attempts in the Senate to "improve" legislation if possible.
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The polling of 1112 voting-age residents of the ACT, done for progressive think tank The Australia Institute by uComms, also finds a smaller number but still a majority of ACT respondents at 63 per cent support new climate laws including an Australian ban on new gas and coal projects.
Meanwhile, 28 per cent of respondents believe new projects should be allowed to go ahead, while 8 per cent are unsure.
A possible world-first gas and coal project ban is a key Greens condition of support for the proposed revamp of the safeguard mechanism scheme, but the Albanese government is pushing back despite needing the support of the Greens and two crossbenchers.
One is likely to be ACT senator David Pocock. The Coalition opposes the Labor revamp of the scheme introduced under Prime Minister Tony Abbott, but it is needed to meet 2030 and 2050 net zero targets.
Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen describes the safeguard mechanism retooling as an "ambitious" scheme to see 4.9 per cent reduction in emissions every year.
"It is appropriate that we provide flexibility to businesses as to how to do that and offsets are a very important, a very important part of that," he told Parliament. "Offsets are the net in net zero which all parties are effectively committed to, meant to be committed to."
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The minister has been engaged in intensive negotiations with crossbench members over the scheme.
Greens leader Adam Bandt insists opening coal and gas plants would not allow climate targets to be reached and rather contribute to the problem the legislation seeks to solve. Modelling commissioned by the Climate Council and the Australian Conservation Foundation has shown declines of 8.9 per cent may be needed by the end of the decade to keep within the emissions budget.
Senator Pocock describes the ambition built into the proposed changes as "mediocre at best". He insists he is focused on improvements that will "increase real abatement, avoid blowing the Safeguard Mechanism carbon budget, and minimise financial risk to the taxpayer" if proposed price caps on carbon credits are exceeded.
He is seeking, among other things, a carbon budget of 1,233 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions between 2021 and 2030 in legislation or regulation as an absolute cap on scheme emissions.
With the independent ACT representative raising concerns about the integrity of Australia's carbon credits, the polling released on Thursday finds 82 per cent of respondents in Canberra do not support allowing polluting projects to offset 100 per cent of their emissions. Only 9 per cent of respondents backed 100 per cent carbon offsets for projects.
The automated phone poll was conducted on March 1 and 2. It has a 2.9 per cent margin of error.
The proposed retooling of the mechanism would cap emissions of the biggest 215 polluters. Companies that breach the limit would be forced to buy carbon offset credits or trade their emissions with other firms.
The polling finds that 85 per cent of ACT voters believe the Senate should improve legislation if it can, while only a small minority (7 per cent) believe the senate should pass legislation "as is".
"The research shows the majority of Canberra voters want the Senate to make sure this legislation is right, not rushed," Australia Institute Executive Director Richard Denniss said in a statement.
"There is a high level of democratic literacy within the ACT about the role of the senate as a house of review to scrutinise and improve legislation, as opposed to rubber stamp laws quickly. Politically speaking, ACT voters are some of the best informed in the country."