For God's sake': Rudd says PM unfit for job after Liberal party bushfire ad

Kevin Rudd says Scott Morrison is unfit to occupy Australia's highest office after the Prime Minister released a promotional Liberal party video spruiking his response to the bushfire crisis, which has been the subject of fierce criticism.

Kevin Rudd has criticised Scott Morrison over the Liberal Party's ad. 

The Prime Minister released the video on social media on Saturday evening as catastrophic conditions again hit New South Wales and Victoria and the mercury neared 50 degrees celsius in Penrith, western Sydney. Earlier in the day, Mr Morrison and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds had announced an unprecedented deployment of the military across the fire grounds.

Read the story from The Age by Latika Bourke - “‘For God's sake': Rudd says PM unfit for job after Liberal party bushfire ad.”

National energy guarantee: don't let Malcolm Turnbull bore you out of the climate debate

In the past decade, Australian climate policy has gone from "the great moral challenge" to the great acronym challenge. It's gone from John Howard and Kevin Rudd's bipartisan acceptance of carbon pricing to a tedious debate about what is, or isn't, a carbon price. And while public acceptance of climate science and support for renewable energy is at an all-time high, the public's patience with politicians is at an all-time low.

Don't let Malcolm Turnbull bore you out of the climate debate.

The Turnbull government's national energy guarantee (or NEG) comes on the back of the CPRS, the RET, the EIS and the CET. But while the public are disengaged from the policy detail, more than two million Australian homes now have solar panels. The cost of renewables is collapsing and there is genuine community enthusiasm for new initiatives like South Australia's installation of the world's largest battery. It's a risky time to play politics with renewable energy.

Read the story from The Canberra Times by Richard Denniss - “National energy guarantee: don't let Malcolm Turnbull bore you out of the climate debate.”

Rudd launches a sweeping attack in Cardinal Pell over climate views

F

ormer Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has launched a sweeping attack on Cardinal George Pell for his sceptical stance on climate change.

Cardinal George Pell - 'high time' his
 views were fronted head on.

Rudd – who took a high profile role at the Copenhagen climate conference in 2009 – has also said the coming Paris climate conference should consider reconvening in the near future to revisit the inadequacies of the international commitments made so far.

Speaking at the University of Melbourne on “Faith, Ethics and Climate Change” on Tuesday night, he declared it was “high time” Pell’s views – which are at odds with Pope Francis' strong stand on climate change in an encyclical this year – were confronted head on.

Rudd said that after years of silence in response to Pell’s critique of his government’s climate policy, he had chosen to enter the debate on the eve of the Paris conference because “we once again enter into a critical time both for Australia and the world”.

Read Michelle Grattan’s piece on The Conversation - “Kevin Rudd takes on George Pell over climate change.”

Will changes mitigate climate change?

Australia's PM, Kevin Rudd.

Will Federal Government changes further help mitigate climate change, or will they simply further confuse people?

Australia’s new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, quickly moved to abolish the existing and much maligned carbon tax and replace it with an emissions trading scheme.
The government has always planned to make that move early next year, but today’s decision substantially advances the process.

News of the change comes in an ABC story headed: “Treasurer Chris Bowen confirms Government will scrap carbon tax for floating price”.