Definitive document, flexible principles

The sight the greeted G20
delegates telling them how
wonderful mining was in
Australia.

Participants in the recent G20 Summit in Brisbane were invited to Australia under the premise that they were to talk about growth, and they did.

Part of their welcome pack was a glossy brochure of more than 150 pages in which Australian Government leaders from the Prime Minister down clearly articulated that the summit would be unalterably about growth.

The G20 Brisbane 2014 “Delegate Publication” left little doubt in the minds of world leaders when Pages two and three combined for a double-page picture of three fully laden coal ships sat above the words: “Australian Mining – Australia’s $210 billion export powerhouse”.

The Minerals Council of Australia sponsored advertisement illustrated unequivocally that Australia’s future was linked to coal, emphazing recent observations from PM Tony Abbott that coal is good for humanity.

The final communique from the summit reflected the Australian treasurer Joe Hockey’s year-long plea for at least a two per cent growth in international gross domestic product.

The 150 page plus
brochure that all
delegates to the recent
 G20 Summit received.

Arrival at that final point was not, as it turned out, without its dramas, distractions and disruptions as the push for growth was for a moment almost obliterated when China and the U.S. announced on the eve of the summit they had made a game changing announcement about their intentions to actively mitigate circumstances that injure the world’s environment and so lead to climate change.

Climate change was never seen by the Australian Government as a legitimate issue for inclusion in summit discussions, although many nations understand and so realised that a benign climate was integral and necessary part of a the world’s economy.

Mr Abbott, who has been described as a former boss when he worked as a press secretary, as having ”very flexible principles” obviously talked with many world leaders over the last week or so and in today’s Melbourne Age said climate change was an important subject.

And so, it seems, our PM has gone from describing climate change as “crap” to seeing it as an “important subject.” Yes, he has “very flexible principles”.

This quite remarkable, and somewhat hard to believe change of heart came after discussion with French President François Hollande and that was reported by The Age in a story headed: “Abbott finds his French Connection on emission controls.”