Shortly after Tony Abbott said he could not support Malcolm Turnbull’s Emissions Trading Scheme because it was against his conscience, he was asked if he would allow a conscience vote on it. He replied “No” because it was not a matter of conscience! As Groucho Marx put it “Those are my princilpes , and if you don’t like them…well, I have others.”
The Coalition’s policy is to maximise choices. They give their supporters many to choose from: –
1. There’s no climate change or global warming.
2. If there is, it’s happening naturally. Even if the poles both melt, the Great Barrier Reef dies, the oceans rise a few metres and the average temperature rises a few degrees, job opportunities will increase and our economy will benefit.
3. If there is, it is happening only somewhere overseas.
4. If it is happening it’s not caused by humans.
5. If it is caused by humans, it is not caused by CO2 emissions.
6. If it is caused by CO2 emissions from burning coal and oil we can wait until they run out because even talking of that happening upsets the economy and especially big and small businesses. Certainly one day we will exhaust the world’s resources of fossil fuels and need to rely on renewables, but not while I am alive, so there is no good worrying too early.
7. I don’t believe in any scientists, as I find things out for myself.
8. I do believe in scientists, but not in climate scientists.
9. I believe in climate scientists but not the ones who say humans are responsible for climate change.
10. If there is human-caused global warming from carbon emissions, and they can be reduced, other countries should move first and pricing carbon is not the way to reduce emissions.
11. If pricing carbon is the way to go, the Gillard government’s scheme is flawed in its details. I do not understand the scheme and, even if I did, it would make no difference as I reckon the Australian economy is more important than global warming. And my personal finances and budget are more important than anything else.
12. If Gillard’s scheme isn’t flawed in every detail, I’m not paying the tax because I’m a truckie”¦ I wear a hard hat”¦ I’m a pensioner”¦ I’m a self-funded retiree”¦ my superfund invests in coal”¦I vote Coalition and like Tony Abbott’s punchy style. I know he does not land any punches but I also know that for him, becoming Prime Minister is more important than any attempts to combat global warming.
Ian Johnstone,
Armidale
