The Senate passed legislation supporting the target in a vote of 37 to 30, despite several senators who supported it wanting a more ambitious 2030 target.
The centre-left Labour Party government officially committed Australia to the 43 per cent target after it came to power for the first time in nine years at elections in May. Entrenching this goal in law has made it more difficult for any future government to reduce the target.
Climate change and energy minister Chris Bowen said the Senate vote provided certainty to clean energy investors while strengthening transparency and accountability in Australia’s carbon reduction processes.
“The message to investors is that Australia is open for business,” Bowen told parliament.
The conservative opposition party voted against the Bill. The opposition has advocated a markedly less ambitious target of reducing emissions by between 26 per cent and 28 per cent since 2015.
Independent senator David Pocock insisted...