Australia under the climate spotlight

T

he Chinese bureaucrat pushed the point.

Was, he wondered, Australia expecting the world to do more to address climate change than it was prepared to do itself?

Back home, the Abbott government was furiously arguing that there was nothing unusual about this – that the probe was a standard part of the laborious theatre of international climate negotiations.

But the Chinese representative pointed out Australia was on the end of more questions than any other country. They came not just from China, but also the US, Brazil and South Africa.

"I think he's right. We got some 36 questions on notice, so there is substantial interest in Australia's climate change policies," Peter Woolcott, Australia's environment ambassador, later told the meeting.

Read The Age story - “Watching brief: Australia in the climate change spotlight ahead of Parissummit”.