Stay out of politics, Libs tell Garnaut

(AAP) - The federal opposition has refused to fall into line with economist Professor Ross Garnaut's plan to tackle climate change, and told him to keep out of politics.

Prof Garnaut last week released his draft report on how Australia should tackle climate change - a broad-based emissions trading scheme to be introduced in 2010, including petrol.

The opposition has expressed some doubts about the plan, which could make it harder for the government to sell it to the public.
Prof Garnaut, who is the federal government's top climate change adviser, called for bipartisanship and urged politicians not to point-score over climate change.

"The chances of getting it right would be better if there was bipartisanship, the
temptations for chipping away at the edges for political purposes are very strong,"
Prof Garnaut told the Nine Network.

Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop told Prof Garnaut to keep out of politics.
"I think that is a very unhelpful comment from Prof Garnaut. He says he's an
economist ... he says he's not a politician," Ms Bishop told Sky News.
"Well then, I agree, he should stick to the economics of it all."
Ms Bishop said the coalition agreed with many of the principles Prof Garnaut put
forward, but they still had concerns emissions trading would have to be rushed
through to meet the 2010 deadline.

The coalition has said the scheme should be delayed if necessary.
It also has said emissions trading should not make petrol more expensive, a proposal
rejected by Prof Garnaut.

Family First senator Steve Fielding, who holds the balance of power in the Senate
with other minor parties, says the fuel excise should be cut to compensate for
higher prices under emissions trading.
"An emissions trading scheme will definitely push petrol prices up, but (a cut in)
petrol taxes will bring them down. So, I think cutting petrol tax does make sense
even more so today, given the Garnaut report," Senator Fielding told Network Ten.

But Federal Climate Change Minister Penny Wong urged the opposition to support the
government's push for an emissions trading scheme (ETS).
"We'll negotiate with a range of parties about these issues but I think the real
issue here is what will the opposition do," she told Network Ten.
The political to-and-fro came as yet another report warned of the dire consequences
of climate change for Australia.

The CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology issued a report warning of a tenfold
increase in heat waves.

Exceptionally hot years - which used to occur once every 22 years - will occur every
one or two years, it predicts.
Droughts would occur twice as often and cover twice the area due to climate change,
the report found.

Federal Agriculture Minister Tony Burke said the report made for alarming reading.
"Parts of these high-level projections read more like a disaster novel than a
scientific report," he told reporters.
Prof Garnaut also told the Nine Network that while prices would rise under emissions
trading, particularly for electricity and fuel, it would not necessarily spell
electoral defeat for the Rudd government.

"I think they can (get re-elected). And the reason they can is that there's very
considerable community support for dealing with this issue," he said.