JOURNALIST: First of all, wanted to ask you for your reaction to these Extinction Rebellion protests next week across the country.

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, look, the right to peaceful protest is an important right in Australia, but there is no place for intimidation and harassment in our community. We've seen instances of that in the recent past. I certainly hope that that is not going to happen in this instance. There really is no place for intimidation and harassment in our community.

JOURNALIST: One of the things they’re trying to draw attention to is that Australia's not on track to meet its 2030 target. What do you think about that?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, we are on track to meet and beat our 2030 targets. We put out forecasts recently in December updating that. We've always met and beaten our targets. We met and beat our 2020 targets by almost a year's worth of emissions reductions. And of course, there are not many countries who have anything like the track record of Australia on our achievements. Indeed, in the last two years, our improvement in our forecasts is equivalent to taking every car in Australia off the road for 15 years. So extraordinary improvements. We continue to see that. We are absolutely on track to meet and beat our 2030 targets.

JOURNALIST: Britain’s Foreign Minister Dominic Raab told the ABC that the Prime Minister Scott Morrison failed to meet the required terms of the Climate Ambition Summit in the UK in December, and his speaking invitation was withdrawn as a result. Can you confirm that that’s the case, Minister?

ANGUS TAYLOR: I'll tell you what I can confirm, I can confirm that we are working very closely with our colleagues in the UK, in the US. I've had discussions just this week with my counterpart from the UK, Alok Sharma, and my counterpart from the United States, John Kerry, just this morning. Those relationships are very strong, very effective and very focused. We've met and beaten our targets for 2020. We’ll meet and beat our targets for 2030. We want to get to net zero as soon as possible and preferably before 2050, and we continue to do important work on how we achieve that, because that is the real issue now is how we and other countries around the world achieve that. And that'll be through technology, not taxes. $18 billion of investment in technologies over the next 10 years with five priority technologies that will reduce emissions, not just in Australia, but right across our region and across the world.

JOURNALIST: Is climate change damaging Australia's reputation with its allies?

ANGUS TAYLOR: We're meeting and beating out targets. That is something that's very clear, and it's very clear and increasingly clear to our allies and colleagues as we talk to them about, not just our achievements, but our plans for the future. And of course, in my discussions just this week with Alok Sharma, my counterpart in the United Kingdom, I made that point and the same, of course, in my discussions with John Kerry this morning.

JOURNALIST: But was the invitation withdrawn? Scott Morrison's invitation withdrawn?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, that's a matter for the UK. But I'll tell you what, we are meeting and beating our targets. I think that’s well understood. Of course, Mathias Cormann, in his new role, will be playing an important role, as he has been in recent months, in explaining the extraordinary performance of Australia, the highest level of household solar in the world. One in four houses. There's no other country with anything like that kind of track record, and we’ll continue to make that case.

JOURNALIST: But aren’t transmissions for transport, energy and industry still going up, Minister?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, emissions are going down. We're 19 per cent down on our 2005 levels on the way to our target of 26 per cent for 2030. In the domestic economy, we’re 36 per cent down, 36 per cent down. And other comparable countries like New Zealand and Canada have seen no reduction in their overall emissions. It’s overall emissions in the economy that counts. Five per cent reduction in the last 12 months in the electricity grid, for instance. We are seeing very strong performance in Australia. We will continue to. We're on track to meet and beat our targets, and we're focused on delivering that outcome in a way that ensures Australians can continue to rely on the jobs and opportunities that they so much want.

JOURNALIST: Are you sure that your report from December is actually accurate? I’ve spoken to climate scientist Bill Hare, and he says that it’s propaganda. It’s not supported by the numbers.

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, you know, with our 2020 targets, there were many people that made the claim that we wouldn't meet and beat those targets. Many, many people who made that claim; they were all wrong. And it will be the same with 2030, I can assure you. We met and beat our 2020 targets by almost a year's worth of emissions. We're on track to meet and beat our 2030 targets. That's what Australia does. We deliver. We always have. We always will.

ENDS