The Greens have extended an olive branch to Labor ahead of the federal election, offering to help a future Albanese government pass climate legislation so long as it agrees to a temporary pause on new coal, gas and oil projects.
Greens leader Adam Bandt will on Monday unveil the "circuit-breaker" proposal ahead of Federal Parliament's return for the year on Tuesday.
Mr Bandt has declared he wants to "improve, not block" Labor's agenda, sending a signal the Greens want to dispel the perception they cannot negotiate on climate policy.
But the olive branch will double as a political wedge, with the Greens poised to attack Labor's commitment to climate action if it rejects the offer.
The Greens are gunning for a number of Labor-held seats across the country at the looming federal election.
"If you're opening up new coal or gas projects then you're not serious about climate action," Mr Bandt said. "This is the time to get serious about climate. And it's the time for parties to come together and realise we've got to take urgent action".
Mr Bandt is confident of holding the balance of power in the next Federal Parliament, a position the Greens would use to end the Coalition's eight years in office and strike up some form of power-sharing deal with a minority Labor government.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has repeatedly ruled out any coalition with the Greens after the next election. The two parties have long been loggerheads over climate policy.
The Greens famously voted against the Kevin Rudd's carbon pollution reduction scheme in 2009, a decision Labor blames for causing higher emissions and fueling the so-called "climate wars" which have plagued Australian politics.
Mr Bandt said he wanted to work constructively with Labor - on one condition. Under a proposal to be rubber stamped at a partyroom meeting today, the Greens would a seek a moratorium on approvals for new coal and gas projects until the next UN climate summit this November.
In exchange, the Greens would agree to help Labor pass a suite of climate legislation before the talks in Egypt. This could include legislation related to Labor's $20 billion to modernise the electricity grid and proposed changes to the mechanism used to limit pollution at high-emitting sites.
Mr Albanese was in the Hunter earlier this month to announce Labor will provide Snowy Hydro Limited with an extra $700 million in equity to make the Kurri peaking plant operate on green hydrogen by 2030.
Mr Bandt's announcement comes as new Parliamentary Library research, requested and published by the Greens, revealed that if the 114 coal, oil and gas projects in the construction pipeline went ahead, they would emit pollution equal to 2.5 times Australia's annual carbon emissions.
Mr Bandt described the temporary freeze on new projects as a modest demand which "no sensible government could reasonably refuse". If a deal was struck, Mr Bandt has signaled the Greens would turn their attention after the summit to pressuring Labor to accelerate the end of coal and gas.
The Greens remain committed to a "rapid" phasing out of the fossil fuels and achieving net zero emissions by 2035.
"At a bare minimum we shouldn't be adding to the problem by opening up new coal and gas projects. We can't pour petrol onto the fire while we're trying to put it out," he said.
