THE ALP shadow cabinet has backflipped on environmental policy,...

THE ALP shadow cabinet has backflipped on environmental policy, embraced gas and declared Australia will not be a low-carbon economy “anytime soon”. The Party has been engaged in a public civil war since its crushing defeat in last May’s “unlosable” federal election – which it had dubbed the “climate change” election. FORCEFULThe pro-gas decision, made in secrecy last month, abandons the extreme environmental posture adopted by former leaders Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and Bill Shorten and follows forceful representation from both Left and Right faction unions.The unions warned that Australia would fail to succeed as a renewable energy superpower if it continued to deindustrialise.According to reports in The Australian newspaper, AWU national secretary Daniel Walton and CFMEU mining and energy national president Tony Maher told about 30 ALP MPs on Tuesday to ignore environmental groups and support the gas sector.Internal Party sources say there is a growing sentiment within caucus to support reliable base-load energy