Tuesday 24 May 2022 06:52 AM Billionaire Andrew Forrest predicts Anthony Albanese will go harder on climate ... trends now
Iron ore mining magnate Andrew Forrest believes Anthony Albanese will adopt much stronger climate change policies than he campaigned on to win office.
Australia's richest billionaire, widely known as 'Twiggy', made the comments to Bloomberg Television while attending the annual gathering of the global elite hosted by the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos.
'Our (Australia's) climate policy has been frankly embarrassing,' Mr Forrest said.
Mining magnate Andrew Forrest (centre) here seen at a press conference flanked by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (left) and Deputy Premier Steven Miles (right) predicts that federal Labor will bring in strong climate change policies now in office
'I think the new government will pivot towards making Australia a global climate champion, which it should have been years and years ago.
'Their campaign to be elected was as a really small target but now that they're actually in government, and quite decisively, I think they'll be much more ambitious.
'And so they should be — because compared to the rest of the world, Australia's been lagging.'
Andrew Forrest (right) talks with a worker at a Queensland plant that his company Fortescue Metals is partnering with to develop hydrogen as an example of green energy
Mr Forrest, 60, said he would like to see Australia aiming for a greenhouse emissions reduction of 50 or 60 per cent by 2030, a step up from Labor's stated goal of reducing emissions by 43 per cent.
He pledged that his company, Fortescue Metals Group, would lead the way in the iron ore sector and other major companies such as Rio Tinto and BHP were enthusiastic about following the lead.
'We intend as a company to be down by 100 per cent by 2030,' Mr Forrest said.
Mr Forrest said
