Reports that Labor's plan to deal with climate change would cost hundreds of billions are utterly false, the opposition's environment spokesman says.
Mark Butler says the News Corp story about a 2013 assessment of cutting emissions by 40-60 per cent is "based on one huge inaccuracy" - Labor didn't adopt any such policy at its recent national conference.
He said the modelling used was ridiculously outdated and said the article was "conspicuously timed", with the Abbott government set to release its new emissions reductions target within days.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt said Labor's language clearly aligned it with a 40-60 per cent emissions reduction target.
He told ABC radio it didn't matter the reported modelling was done by public servants before the last federal election because it was "Labor's own modelling of their own policy using their own carbon tax".
The motion Labor passed at last month's national conference committed the party to base post-2020 pollution reduction targets on up-to-date advice from expert bodies such as the Climate Change Authority.
Although not explicitly stated in Labor's platform, the authority has recommended Australia aim to cut pollution to 40-60 per cent below 2000 levels by 2030.
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