Pacific tour: Simon Birmingham admits Coalition should have raised climate change emissions target ‘earlier’

Simon Birmingham has admitted the Coalition should have raised its emissions reduction target “earlier” and listened to its Pacific neighbours who view climate change as a bigger threat than geopolitical rivalries. It comes as Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. has warned China it will not succumb to economic coercion, as he announces a new weekly connecting flight from Australia to his tiny Pacific nation in a bid to boost tourism. A bipartisan delegation will return to Australia on Friday morning following a four-day trip to the Pacific to strengthen regional ties amid growing influence from China in the region. Foreign Minister Penny Wong led the contingent of Australian politicians, which included Senator Birmingham, Pacific Minister Pat Conroy and Nationals MP Michael McCormack. While standing next to Senator Wong in Palau on Thursday, and before the group toured the nation’s first solar farm that Australia provided $31.4 million in funding, the Shadow Foreign Minister declared his party should have had a tougher climate policy. Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s climate policy was net zero by 2050 and an “expectation” of a 35 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030. While the Albanese Government has adopted an emissions reduction target of 43 per cent by the end of the decade. Senator Birmingham said when you are “clearly on track to exceed targets, it makes sense to raise and to elevate those targets”. “That probably should have occurred at an earlier stage. What’s clear to me from the few days that I’ve had from engagement with Pacific leaders, like President Whipps, is that it is critical for us to listen carefully and attentively to our Pacific partners, and not just to listen, but to ensure that we act in concert with them,” Senator Birmingham said. “When you lose elections, it’s important to listen, to understand the reasons why you lost and of course, that’s about listening to the Australian electorate. “But as Shadow Foreign Minister, it’s also about listening to all of our partners who we value in the region and globally to understand how we can most effectively shape policy to work with them as even deeper, stronger partners in the future.” Mr Whipps echoed that sentiment when he was asked whether Palau would be pressured from Beijing to drop diplomatic ties with Taiwan. “What we’ve told China is that, as friends, you shouldn’t tell your friends who their friends can be,” the Palau President said. “We’ve made a very clear statement that we have diplomatic relations with the Republic of China — Taiwan... that’s why they say, we can give you all the tourist you want, just switch, and we say, that’s okay, and that’s what they’ve done. “They’ve turned off the faucet (and) played games with us. I don’t think that’s the way you treat true friendship and true partnership.” In 2017, at the height of Chinese tourists in Palau, Beijing withdrew its preferred destination status due to an escalating diplomatic tug-of-war between China and Taiwan. China accounted for more than 50 per cent of the 122,000 visitors to Palau at the time, while only 9000 came from Taiwan. The Palau President said his country’s economy had suffered as a result and was now looking to other markets such as Australia. Air Niugini will start operating weekly flights from Brisbane to Palau via Papua New Guinea from February 28.