‘Almost a religious aspect': Tony Abbott downplays link between bushfires and climate change

Washington: Former prime minister Tony Abbott has downplayed the contribution of climate change to the Australian bushfire crisis, telling a US audience he believes the link between extreme weather events and carbon emissions has become akin to a religious dogma for many people.

"His style sometimes grates but he has been a very
 good president," said Tony Abbott of Donald Trump.

In a speech to the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, Abbott also heaped praise on US President Donald Trump, essentially endorsing him for a second term in the White House.

"I'm not one of those people who sees the current bushfires as confirmation of all we've ever feared about the changing climate," he told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in Washington on Tuesday (Wednesday Australian time).

"I see the current bushfires as the sort of thing that we are always going to be prone to in a country such as ours - a land of droughts and flooding rains as the poet [Dorothea Mackellar] said all those years back."

Read the story from The Age by Matthew Knott - “‘Almost a religious aspect': Tony Abbott downplays link between bushfires and climate change.”

(This man is a nutter - the adherence of most to the existing capitalism/neoliberalism market system that has resulted in human-induced climate change, is akin to religion, challenge it and you will die, sometimes literally. The Heritage Foundation think tank is where the climate denialists gather, and to quote Dorothea Mackellar is also the common retreat of those of Tony Abbott’s ilk. “My Country” was first published in 1908 and the conditions from then are markedly different from what we have today and so to use Dorothea’s work is the defence of the defenceless  - Robert McLean)

Tony Abbott not convinced by 'so-called' climate science

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has raised doubts around the "so-called" science of climate change.

Tony Abbott and Zali Steggall

"The so-called settled science is not quite as settled as people say and that's my position," Mr Abbott said while campaigning in his Sydney seat of Warringah on Friday.

"Nevertheless, we've only got one planet. We should do what we reasonably can to rest lightly upon it," he said.

Read the SBS story by Nick Baker - “Tony Abbott not convinced by 'so-called' climate science.”

‘The short answer is yes': Abbott's vow to cross the floor over government's energy policy

A crucial government meeting on energy and climate policy has ended with another warning from former prime minister Tony Abbott that he will cross the floor on the National Energy Guarantee, after he was out-numbered in a vigorous debate on the plan.

Mr Abbott emerged from a briefing on the Turnbull government’s policy on Tuesday morning to warn that he could not accept an outcome dictated by Labor state premiers when it should be decided by the Coalition party room.

Read David Crowe’s story from The Age - “‘The short answer is yes': Abbott's vow to cross the floor over government's energy policy.”

Tony Abbott fires warning shot at party leadership on energy

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has assured Coalition MPs that electricity customers were “through the worst” of the price spikes of recent years, as former prime minister Tony Abbott fired another warning shot over the government’s energy policy.

Former Australian Prime Minster, Tony Abbott.

Mr Frydenberg told Liberal and Nationals colleagues that he expected prices to fall in Queensland and stay relatively flat in NSW and South Australia according to forecasts for the next pricing period from July.

The assurance came as several MPs expressed their concern about energy and Mr Abbott sought an assurance that the government’s policy would go back to the Coalition party room for a decision by all members.

Read the story from today’s Age - “Tony Abbott fires warning shot at party leadership on energy.”

Turnbull has a chance to burnish his green credentials

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government crackdown to stop "vigilante" green groups challenging large mining projects in court should be passed by Parliament despite criticism they are undemocratic, a Senate inquiry controlled by the government says.

New PM, Malcolm Turnbull, can
differentiate himself from his
 predecessor by scrapping this Bill.

Labor, the Greens, community groups and environmental advocates have argued the changes proposed by the former Abbott government limit the public's right to ensure environment laws are upheld.

The bill was proposed after a Federal Court challenge by a grassroots community group threw a spanner in the works of Australia's largest coal project, Adani's Carmichael mine in central Queensland – a move former Prime Minister Tony Abbott described as "sabotage".

Read Nicole Hasham’s story in The Sydney Morning Herald - “Government-controlled Senate probe backs crackdown on green 'lawfare'.”

(Should new PM Malcolm Turnbull be eager to differentiate himself from his predecessor and within that illustrate his understanding of climate change, he would abandon this bill, reinstate democracy and again legitimize the right of a person from as far away as Western Australia to lawfully object to something such as the Adani Carmichael Mine in central Queensland, acknowledging that coal produced from the mine will be a measurable and noticeably contributor to the world’s carbon dioxide emissions – Robert McLean.)

Julie Bishop keen to co-chair 'Bob Brown bank'

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oreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has launched a bid for Australia to co-chair the Green Climate Fund that former Prime Minister Tony Abbott once criticised as "a Bob Brown bank on an international scale".

Foreign Affairs Minister, Julie Bishop, is
 keen to co-chair Green Climate Fund.

A decision on who the next two co-chairs of the fund will be is expected to be made in Zambia late next week.

The co-chair positions are typically held by one developing and one developed country for a period of one year.

Fairfax Media has learnt that Ms Bishop first proposed Australia put its name forward to co-chair the fund when Mr Abbott was still prime minister.

Read The Age story - “Australia bids to co-chair the Green Climate Fund criticised by Tony Abbott.”

'Little black rock's' moral qualities questioned

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ustralia’s coal industry is on borrowed time. In general, renewables are becoming more efficient and major coal projects are being cancelled and scaled back. This is perhaps why have heard so much from the Coalition recently about the superior moral qualities of the “little black rock”.

Jason Wilson - 'no
moral argument
for coal'.

Around this time last year, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott (Remember him? The one who used to pal around with Stephen Harper?) gave us the memorable line “coal is good for humanity”.

He was speaking in support of the Caval Ridge mine in Queensland. This week, the energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, responded to critics of the recently-approved Carmichael mine:

There is a strong moral case here. Over a billion people don’t have access to electricity. That means that more 2 billion people today are using wood and dung for their cooking.

It may seem odd to hear a politician, in 2015, arguing not only that burning coal will lead to cleaner air, but that it helps the global poor – the same group who are likely to be most affected by the climate change being driven by fossil fuel emissions.

Read Jason Wilson’s story in The Guardian  - “There is no 'moral case for coal' in Australia, just an imported PR line”.