Tony Abbott calls for end to all energy subsidies, including on coal

Tony Abbott has used the second anniversary since losing the top job to declare he’s intent on looking forward, not backward – and has again weighed in to the government’s fraught energy debate to call for an end to all subsidies.

Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott marked two
years since he was ousted from the top job by
calling for an end to energy subsidies.

The former prime minister told 2GB on Thursday he welcomed signs from Malcolm Turnbull that the government was moving away from the clean energy target recommended by the chief scientist to what he is characterising as a “100% reliable energy target.”

“I welcome these signs that we are moving away from a clean energy target to a reliable energy target, and, frankly, nothing less than a 100% reliable energy target will do because we’ve got to keep the lights on all the time ... if we are to be a first-world country,” Abbott said.

Read Katharine Murphy’s story on The Guardian - “Tony Abbott calls for end to all energy subsidies, including on coal.”

(This position taken by Tony Abbott is sheer political trickery, it’s dog whistling to his fossil fuel friends and ignores the fact that the damage done to the Earth’s atmosphere because of carbon dioxide emissions makes every other argument presented by Mr Abbott and his compatriots redundant. Climate change and its array of complexities fall well beyond any traditional market -driven answers or solutions and the way ahead demands a clean break with what was and whole new way of thinking; thinking that is not driven by economic concerns, but the broader, deeper and more important welfare of people - Robert McLean)