GREENS' LEADER WELCOMES OBAMA, PESSIMISTIC ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L CANBERRA 000261 NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2019 TAGS: PGOV SENV AS SUBJECT: GREENS' LEADER WELCOMES OBAMA, PESSIMISTIC ON CLIMATE CHANGE Classified By: CDA Daniel A. Clune for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C/NF) SUMMARY: Green Party Leader Senator Bob Brown told Charge that the Greens could not support the Rudd Government's proposal for a 5-15% reduction in carbon emissions and will continue to press for a 40% reduction from 1990 levels. He said he looked forward to a good relationship with the United States now that Barack Obama was President. Brown also noted that he supported the U.S. reaching out to Iran but his party continues to oppose the presence of Australian troops in Afghanistan. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) The Charge met with Australian Green Party Leader Senator Bob Brown at Parliament House, Canberra on March 17. Brown, from Tasmania, has been leader of the Green Party since his election to the Senate in 1996. Brown was a vehement opponent of the Iraq War and Guantanamo and was ejected from the Australian Parliament when he heckled President George W. Bush during a speech in 2003. Brown said after the election that President Obama "raises the hopes of the world for a fairer, securer, more ecologically sound future." The Greens are now the third-largest political party in Australia, and although they hold only five seats in the Senate, combined with independent senators Nick Xenophon and Steve Fielding, they form a block that has to be won over in order to pass legislation if the Coalition opposes it. EMISSIONS TRADING ¶3. (C/NF) Brown said neither the Coalition nor the Greens would support the Government's emissions trading scheme (ETS). (NOTE: Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull announced March 14 that the Coalition would oppose the ETS "in its present form and on its current timetable.") The Greens could not in good conscience support the Government's targets of a 5-15% carbon emission reduction when the global warming situation was so dire. Brown noted that the key to any reduction is the target not the scheme but he did think that the Government's ETS would be a good fit with any international system. In general, Brown said, he preferred a cap to a carbon tax because it set a limit on emissions. ¶4. (C/NF) The Greens Leader said the current government in Australia had "lost its way" on combating climate change. Australia had the biggest coal industry in the world and Climate Change Minister Penny Wong had met with every coal and logging company in the country. Brown maintained that if Australia stopped logging that alone would cut carbon emissions by 15-20%. RELATIONSHIP WITH THE UNITED STATES ¶5. (SBU) The Charge said he hoped that with a new government in the U.S., relations with the Greens could improve. Brown replied that he had great affection for the U.S. and the Greens wanted a good relationship. The Greens disliked the Bush Administration's policies, not the United States. President Obama was the world's great hope, Brown said, and he was attuned to what people were thinking. CHINA, IRAN, AND AFGHANISTAN ¶6. (C/NF) Brown said China's treatment of Tibet was wrong, but Australia would not "look China in the eye" on the issue because the Government felt the trade relationship was too important. The Greens leader declared that he approved of President Obama's willingness to talk to Iran. He also stated that Australia should withdraw its troops from Afghanistan and send an equivalent amount of aid instead. The Charge noted that the U.S. was currently reviewing its policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan in an effort to Qpolicy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan in an effort to develop a comprehensive strategy. Brown said he would be pleased to receive updates on the situation. NO CLIMATE LEGISLATION WITHOUT THE GREENS? ¶7. (C/NF) COMMENT: The Greens telegraphed their opposition to the ETS last weekend, when Deputy Leader Christine Milne told the press that a 5-15% reduction was "wildly inadequate and not even near the ballpark." The Greens, the Coalition, and independent senator Nick Xenophon have now expressed their opposition to the Government's proposed legislation, which has been referred to a two-month-long committee of inquiry in the Senate. With the Coalition and the Greens both opposing the ETS, its future seems to be in considerable doubt. Although deeply committed to environmental issues, the Greens stand to gain the most from knocking down the Government's ETS - any substantial delay is likely to lead to tougher targets, and disaffected Labor voters will most likely turn to the Greens to protest the Government's having "lost its way." CLUNE