Prasinophobia is an intense and irrational fear of the colour green. One notable sufferer of this phobia is Anthony Albanese, whose symptoms manifest in applying extreme heat to anybody showing pro-green tendencies – even his own environment minister. Tanya Plibersek was well and truly cooked, and rendered almost ineffectual in the last week of parliament for 2024.
Plibersek had secured Greens support for a bill to establish the first national Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a watchdog which would enforce nature regulations, as promised by Labor at the last election. But she dared to appear pro-green in the process.
On hearing about this, Albanese suffered a severe attack. He trashed the deal without informing Plibersek that her bill was dead.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, 27 November 2024:
“This masthead has been told the prime minister did not want a Labor-Greens environment deal that could be weaponised by the federal opposition and the resources sector before the next election, and lead to a potential scare campaign.”
It is not clear whether the plan for the EPA is now definitely dead, but the issue is set to remain live over summer, with Labor’s left faction, of which Plibersek is part, furious the election pledge was shelved until 2025.
Running on her remaining scant reserves of credibility, Ms Plibersek is promising to negotiate “in good faith” across parliament seeking “common sense, co-operation and compromise” before the bill comes back in February.
The PM has refused to undergo medical treatment, and so, the bill seems doomed, and set to close another chapter in Albanese’s chronicle of broken environmental promises.
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