Tony Abbott wants Australia to leave Paris deal he formerly agreed to

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said that Australia should withdraw itself from the Paris Climate Agreement that he agreed to while serving his term in office three years ago.

Back in 2015, then Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced a ā€œresponsibleā€ as well as ā€œachievableā€ emissions reduction pledge that he said had hit ā€œthe right balanceā€ between both economic and environmental concerns.

However, last night Mr Abbott said that leaving the Paris agreement would be the best decision that the country could make at the moment.

In an appearance on Sky News, the ex-prime minister lashed out at the agreement, citing the withdrawal of the United States from the agreement and the ā€œeconomic damageā€ of renewable energy. He said that if Australia had known about the damage that would be done ā€œto our power systemā€ as well as ā€œto our industriesā€ that his government would never have ratified the agreement.

He went on to say that now that Australia was aware of the damage that we should leave the agreement as quickly as possible.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop rebuked Mr Abbottā€™s comments, saying that Australia would stay in the Paris agreement because we are a country that ā€œplays by the rulesā€. She said that if Australia signed an agreement that, ā€œwe stick to the agreementā€.

She went on to say that Australia sought to be recognised as a ā€œreliable and trustedā€ nation and that she believed we could ā€œachieve the target that we setā€. She said that the targets were deliberately set so that they were realistically achievable so that Australia could honour its agreement.

Ms Bishop went on to say that Australia had made strong commitments in the Paris agreement that could not be simply or easily dismissed.

However, Mr Abbott refused to entertain that notion altogether.

He said that ā€œfalse claimsā€ were being made by his former colleagues and that the Paris agreement was not a ā€œbinding commitmentā€ but only an ā€œaspirational targetā€.

This news comes as a split develops in the Coalition ranks regarding the National Energy Guarantee (NEG). The comments from Mr Abbott are a suggestion that he may cross the Parliament floor to vote down the legislation.

Christian Woods
Christian Woods
Christian is a morning reporter and technology columnist for Best in Australia. Christian has worked in the media since 2000, in a range of locations. He joined Best in Australia in 2018, and began working in Melbourne in 2019.
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