Is it a genuine ideological split, or more politcal gamesmanship?

Robert McLean

I

s the disagreement about global warming a genuine ideological split in the Liberal Party or are Australians being subjected to more political gamesmanship?

Political reporter with The Age, Heath Aston, wrote today that, “Prime Minister Tony Abbott is facing a push from inside the Liberal Party to prevent Australia signing up to any binding emissions reduction targets at the upcoming Paris climate talks.”

Is it a political ploy that will allow the PM and Environment Minister, Greg Hunt, to say “Well, we tried, but the democratic choice is to have further investigation of the science”?

The Age reported today that a cabal of regional and rural Liberal members, centred in Western Australia and supported by a number of conservative MPs, will force a vote at Saturday's federal council meeting in Melbourne on whether Parliament should "examine the evidence" around climate change before agreeing to any post-2020 emissions cuts.

Read The Age story - “Tony Abbott, Greg Hunt confronted by anti-climate science push from within Liberal Party”.