- The Teals promised to end fossil fuel subsidies.
- Some have removed that commitment from websites.
- One Teal described their engagement as “horrible”
A Teal MP was left red-faced after being forced to backtrack after claiming it was “disinformation” to say she voted for up to $2 billion in new coal rebates.
The embarrassing exchange was captured on video obtained by Daily Mail Australia at a community forum in Zoe Daniel’s Goldstein electorate on April 18 at the Hampton RSL.
Ms Daniel, who defeated Liberal MP Tim Wilson in the last election, attempted to dismiss a question from a constituent about why she voted for fossil fuel rebates as “misinformation or manipulation of information”.
But moments later she can be heard in the video trying to explain why she voted that way: “the bill was actually the cost of living bill that passed through parliament on energy prices… it compensated the energy companies for their losses,” said Mrs. Daniel.
He then explained his discomfort at voting for something he had promised in the election and would never do, describing doing so as “horrible.”
Subsidies for coal-fired power were part of a legislative package that Teals supported despite election promises to abolish such subsidies.
“Every piece of legislation and every policy involves a compromise, which is really terrible,” Ms. Daniel told the stunned constituents.
In the election, Ms Daniel pledged to “stop subsidizing fossil fuels”, and put the pledge on her website for all to see. However, after voting to do the opposite – as part of the Energy Price Relief Plan – and subsidize energy companies that produce fossil fuels, Teal removed the pledge and changed its website to read: ‘ cuts in fossil fuel subsidies’ to accommodate the setback. .
Wentworth Teal MP Allegra Spender also changed her website after supporting the bill. Before the vote, Ms. Spender’s website said “end the government’s $11.6 billion a year in fossil fuel subsidies.”
Zoe Daniel (above) confessed to a constituent that she voted in favor of coal subsidies after initially labeling the question “misinformation.”
The Teals were elected on a platform to end fossil fuel subsidies, but everyone voted for them in December 2022 (Zoe Daniel (third from right) and Allegra Spender (far left) pictured)
After voting in favor of up to $2 billion in such subsidies, its website was modified to read “phasing out the $10 billion the federal government spends on fossil fuel subsidies each year.”
Spender defeated then-Liberal MP (now Senator) Dave Sharma in the 2022 election.
All Teal MPs voted in favor of the Labor government’s bill. It was approved by the House of Representatives on December 15, 2022.
Under the Energy Price Relief Plan, a limit was imposed on the price of coal and gas for power generation. If the price cap was exceeded, coal and gas generators were compensated with subsidies.
The Coalition voted against the legislation.
An exact figure on how much coal generators have been paid is currently unavailable as the companies refuse to answer questions on the basis of “commercial confidentiality”.