2035 Nationally Determined Contributions

When the government announced their 2030 Paris target of 43 per cent, I stood up in this chamber and commended them on doing so, but I also said that I did not believe it was ambitious enough. Ambitious targets are one thing, but we also need concrete, pragmatic plans to get us there, as well as strong governance of our energy institutions to keep those plans on track. The nationally determined contributions, or NDCs, under the Paris Agreement are a country's climate commitment. They must be updated every five years to reflect growing ambition, technologies and plans to reach targets. The next update for the 2035 target is due in February 2025. This is our opportunity to demonstrate ambition and commitment.

Why, then, are there indications that the major parties might not reveal their revised targets until after next year's election? I believe it is important to Australians to be able to weigh up the alternatives when they decide how to vote at the upcoming election. I believe it is important that both the government and the coalition, who haven't updated their targets since 2019, assure us that they will share their targets ahead of the next election—and not just the targets, I might add. They should also detail how they plan to reach those targets. I believe it will be a complete disservice to the electorate if they do not.