?Do you accept the science?? Talking points show how Angus Taylor prepared for IPCC report?s release

Have you read the report? Do you accept the science? Shouldn't the Great Barrier Reef be put on the in-danger list?

These prickly questions are not from a Canberra press conference, but are the lines of attack anticipated by Australian officials when they briefed Angus Taylor on how to respond to a dire new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

A 12-page list of talking points, obtained under freedom of information laws, gives an insight into how the government prepared for the release of findings that the UN secretary general would describe as a "code red for humanity".

The document - originally marked as "Official: Sensitive" - outlines suggested responses to potential questions as of 11am Monday 9 August - more than two months before the prime minister, Scott Morrison, finally landed a deal with the Nationals to set a target of net zero emissions by 2050.

It was compiled by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources and was attached to a ministerial briefing sent to Taylor, the emissions reduction minister, to prepare for the publication of the IPCC report later that day.

It includes preparation for the classic "gotcha" journalistic question: "Have you read the report?"

The suggested response is: "I have been briefed on the Summary for Policy Makers that has been publicly released. I understand that the IPCC will release the full report, which is over 2000 pages, in the near future."