Climate change haunts this cost-of-living and Trump-madness election like a ghost on the policy staircase. Even a holy ghost …
It takes a special kind of ultra-conservative genius to turn the death of the Pope in Rome into an Australian election attack on Anthony Albanese’s climate positioning. But Andrew Bolt was up for the task on Sky News “after dark” this week.
The prime minister wears his working-class Catholic heritage openly. But in briefly pausing electioneering on Tuesday out of respect, he was cynically exploiting Francis’s fatal stroke and heart attack, with Bolt proselytising:
“What you instead saw today was highly political campaigning. Labor very calculatingly showing it is a friend of Christians and turning the Pope into a saint of the left, particularly the saint of global warming.”
Clearly having the likes of top UN officials remembering the progressive-leaning, Jesuit-trained, Argentinian-born Francis as an “unflinching global champion of climate action” was too much for Bolt. He’s a public agnostic and self-described “rationalist” in religious terms, and a prominent climate sceptic — if not outright denier.
Troubled waters
Bolt’s vocal disdain for climate science, in contrast to the much-mourned pontiff, is echoed widely within Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s Liberal-National Coalition, especially on the Nationals’ side. But it is also in the now not-so-broad church of a Liberal Party ever more drained of its moderates, tainted by the MAGA playbook, and still lagging on the humanising element of boosting women within its ranks.
Dutton has left open real doubts about his climate action commitment, recently responding “I’m not a scientist” when pressed a week ago in the ABC leaders’ debate about whether climate impacts are being felt already. Then there’s his clear intention to walk back Australia’s commitments on UN Paris agreement net zero interim targets. And let’s not forget being caught out by a hot mic in 2015 joking about “water lapping at your door” in regard to Pacific Islanders.
Old king coal
The Pacific remembers. Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr, in Australia this month for Smart Energy 2025, resurrected Dutton’s gaffe while urging Australia to step up on climate action. He said:
“For those of us in the Pacific who have travelled, who have lived through storm surges, rising ocean levels and increasing high tides, the phrase ‘water lapping at your door’ is not a metaphor or a punchline. It’s our fear and our reality.”
He portrayed Australia as the “biggest Pacific island”, sharing the same existential climate crisis as its smaller neighbours, but also as the region’s biggest emitter by far. And as a “big sibling” it has a big responsibility to do more:
“We’re asking for solidarity, and we are urging Australia and whoever forms the next government to take the next step and stop approving new fossil-fuel projects.”
That’s a challenge to Dutton and his Coalition, but also to Labor. This week brings news of final approval for the giant Barossa gas project off the Northern Territory, condemned by opponents as a “climate bomb”. That comes on top of a succession of coalmine expansions and new coal and gas developments approved under Labor over the past three years, a trend expected to continue if it wins a second term. (As Australian-American solar champion Danny Kennedy memorably remarked when he was a Greenpeace activist more than two decades ago: “it’s hard to take the coal out of the COALition, and it’s hard to take it out of the Labor Party too.”)
Best attack is defence
At least Labor is championing bringing the UN COP31 annual global climate summit to Adelaide in 2026, in a joint hosting partnership with Pacific nations. Whipps welcomed that with open arms, saying: “Hosting COP31 in our region is not just about symbolism, it is a test of fairness and integrity in the global climate process.” Dutton has vowed to axe it. He derided bidding to host it as “madness”.
Which brings us to Wednesday’s long-awaited defence policy announcement from the Coalition. It’s big on increasing spending on military hardware and infrastructure, by $21 billion over five years to 2030, and aspiring to spending 3% of the national GDP in defence within a decade. But the Coalition is missing in action in confronting global and regional climate impacts as a core threat to Australia’s national security, as well as its environment and economic and energy security. If it wins the government benches, it promises to abandon 82% renewables electricity and 43% net zero by 2030, and hit reverse gear on promoting electric vehicle uptake.
Lacking energy
Its energy policies to prolong and expand fossil fuel coal and gas and introduce nuclear energy are a slap in the face for Pacific Island nations facing sea-level rise wipe-out. They are deeply affronted and fundamentally threatened by the Trump administration’s Paris withdrawal and trade hostility, and also by Labor’s legislative foot-dragging on phasing out coal, a continuation of business as usual for the major parties.
In a grim new geopolitical reality where Australia is caught between an aggressively rising superpower in China, and an increasingly unreliable superpower strategic ally in America, we need our region on side more than ever. Like it or not, Australia can never buy or build enough military hardware and capability to go it alone, and in our region climate action solidarity is our biggest and best diplomatic bargaining chip.
Therein lies the greatest irony of the 2025 election. The political players least associated with national security, and most aggressive on climate action, the Greens and many community independents, hold the key to demanding more climate-aligned soft power action if the major parties are forced into negotiating for minority government.
Green shoots
Given Dutton’s stuttering performance in the campaign, and the Coalition’s collapsing poll numbers, staunchly pro-climate action progressives are growing increasingly despondent about leverage prospects. Their dream scenario, of Labor returning to government in minority, relying on support from Greens and independents, with clear echoes of 2010 and the Julia Gillard era, could be evaporating.
We’ll find out soon enough how many Australians vote with that level of strategic clarity and purpose. Any notion that Australia can trade off climate action spending and tough policy commitments to bolster traditional defence is delusional, or “madness” as Dutton might say. They are indivisible for Australia’s national security in the Asia-Pacific, whatever the major parties may believe they can get away with.
I’m fortunate to have an aspiring independent in my electorate, Nicolette Boele. If she gets pass the incumbent lnp, then the pressure will be on Albo to take some firm action on CC. So far you’d think ScoMo was the PM with inaction on this extremely pressing issue. But hey! We have to keep digging and burning so that multi nationals can become richer. We’re such mug’s voting for these two major nincompoops!
I also have an excellent independent candidate to vote for in Peter George. I am so grateful that I have such a choice. Climate action is the most important issue facing our existence and is most certainly the elephant in the room.
Caz Heise standing in Cowper stands to upset 100 years of Country Party/Nationals inaction on everything, and the invisibility of the incumbent. Caz fully understands the need for Climate Action. The Nasty Nats are offended by anyone having a crack at them – “this is OUR seat they bleat” showing their entitlement mentality. Social statistics in the seat are amongst the worst on Australia.
Yes, I wish I had that option in the seat of Fenner…. All the other candidate are just as nincompoops on climate change.
An example of a country that is left with no options but to deal with climate change….Grenada with seaweed.
It’s a viable option and kelp has many uses
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&channel=entpr&q=seaweed+as+renewal+energy+solution
Here’s how I found out about that
https://www.care2.com/
Not sure there’s ever been a time in my voting history that there were any, let alone enough, Australians cast their vote with any “…level of strategic clarity and purpose”
We can but live in hope…
Well I certainly will , however I cannot vouch for too many others.
It is totally insane that the science of climate change has become a left/right issue. Science is science, and it is perfectly clear that the climate has already changed and will be changing a lot more if we don’t leave those darned fossil fuels in the ground.
Andrew Bolt and Peter Dutton, and their fellow travellers, may well be pushing up daisies by the time we are dealing with 3 or 4 degrees of warming, 1-2 metres of sea level rise, and large parts of the world becoming uninhabitable, but their children and grandchildren will certainly be having to deal with a world that humankind has never seen before. It sure won’t be a left/right issue then!
Never mind when they’ve pushing up daisies; with the Reef gone, Cairns loses its major industry. Regular inundations and severe cyclones has already made horticulture, aquaculture and agriculture high risk. Escalating insurance premiums, infrastructure maintenance and sheer livability costs could, as soon as the next big blow, make that region of FNQ unviable as an economic unit.
Then there’s the vast pastoral flood plains; how many biblical floods can they recover from? Or for that matter, how many droughts?
The handout mentality as usual!
What is not lost with me is that Queensland/NT with all its climate destroying mines et al squeals the loudest when disaster happens and expects to get whatever it wants, the madness is that parties rush to fund it against all common sense, and leaves the common people (indigenous) with nothing.
So, the usual roulette wheel of cause and effect, without the intelligence of the human factor.
So, either the people in these zones get a bit smarter with housing, location etc and find better ways to coexist with the environment, not that hard as many have had to adapt along the way.
Grown-ups temper tantrum fed by political schadenfreude from both sides.
As you say Catherine, ‘the climate will keep changing’. Full stop. No need for an ‘if’. The damage has already been done. Even if emissions stopped tomorrow, the effects of climate change will continue for a long time into the future.
The mumbling Bollard was hardly ever likely to get up, despite a brief excitement due to the execrable media propaganda and the brain dead amateurs posing as ‘journalists’. The Bollard has put any ideas of views from Kirribilli to bed , by continually kicking himself in the face with his glaring, and unsurprising utter unsuitability for the job.
Albanese and Labor have disappointed many of us with their timidity, not to mention hypocrisy on approval of climate destroying fossil fuel projects and a toothless NCCC.
As suggested in the article, the best result would be a minority Labor government, which would force them to start behaving like a Labor government should,instead of a watered down version of the Boofhead rabble.
A good early move would be to stomp all over the liars in the media.Looking at that corpse like ‘American’ citizen.
How should a Labor government behave Harry? The clue is in the name: their first priority is always jobs. They see their role as protecting and creating employment. The massive infrastructure projects in the big cities, some with dubious cost-benefit analysis, are really big job creation schemes. Bushland gets knocked over, heritage buildings pushed aside. The environment comes second. Think about Tasmanian fish farming.
Misspelling Palau is also insulting! Climate change is a cost of life issue. It has been largely ignored/avoided by the ALP and LNP as a campaign issue. But it will be an election issue, a vote grabber/changer, particularly with the younger generations and those directly affected by natural disasters. Greens and Indies will attract these voters and many will probably preference Labor. The LNP will be crucified because of their image/perception as climate change deniers.
Exactly!
The newer generation of voters that are eligible to vote for the first time will be a big factor and I suspect that there will definitely be a big power shift in Parliament with more Independents and Greens.
It’s the only way to sweep out dead wood and recalcitrant that refuse to heed what people actually want.
I’ve been voting Greens 1st, Independents then ALP for the past three election cycles.
Dutton should be crucified for his “I’m not a scientist” response. It doesn’t stop him from getting on a plane or visiting the doctor when necessary. It’s science that keeps aeroplanes in the air and allows modern medicine to diagnose and treat medical conditions – it’s science that tells us the planet is warming because of emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.
Hear, hear! He’s not an economist either but he’s got plenty of opinions in that area.
I live in the PMs electorate of Grayndler and I can tell you that the excitement and pride in having our local lad become PM quickly subsided.
The feeling now is of widespread disappointment. Disappointment at his timidity, his cosying up to the big end of town, his strategic fumbling of the referendum, the continuing approval of fossil fuel projects, the doubling down on the strategic insanity of AUKUS …. the list just goes on.
Expect a decent protest vote.
What I said,thank you for further confirmation.I reckon a majority Labor government would be nearly as disastrous as the lying nasty party.Could be our last chance to make a REAL difference.
It’s unbearable to see the impact of “think tanks” so polluting our societies with malignant information, sponsored by mega rich self-indulgent, greedy, socially delinquent persona. That our political parties ascribe to dribble and remain brain dead is mortifying. Like many people I seek refuge in those who do not stick to party ideology but show a dedication to be informed and look after the community that elected them. I hope that these independent candidates flourish and become a force for sanity and honesty in the future. They truly represent an opportunity for the resurrection of democracy.
Even if we get a Labor minority, are we so sure that they won’t just make deals with the LNP? I wouldn’t be at all surprised, but I would be utterly aghast.
Indeed so. Frightening.
#dumpduttonfromdickson
The late Pope had a science degree so his care for the planet was totally understandable – we need to act with urgency to have a place to call home. I’ve asked my local member about the climate risk assessment they received last December – still waiting. The costs of inaction will far exceed the costs of the steps we need to take.
If you anything about history you know that humans only act after the catastrophe. Nothing’s changed.
If you mean we should have acted last century when climate change was first detected, then you are correct.
It’s too late now, which makes the whole debate pretty irrelevant in 2025.
My God ! I have need seen such social confusion and disenchantment leading up to a Federal Election.
Never forget that the Muckraking Murdoch Media Moguls are well and truly immersed in all of the lies, half truths, misinformation, blind eyed denialism and other sordid behaviour that supports the big end of town to everyone else’s cost and detriment.
I see a huge future role for Independents after this election. I hope I’m not disappointed.
I’m worried that some may see a vote for any independent as good. Research and choose wisely.
Thank you. The vest analysis I have read leading into this election. A minority for Labor, with Greens and Independents driving needed policy change on many matters but certainly of the utmost importance for our next generations is climate change policy.
I agree that our only hope for a good result at this election is the way the younger generation vote. Having Independents and Greens with the balance of power is the only way we might get to see some real action, not only with climate change policy but tax reform, negative gearing and housing policy.
I have this dream….. Before the next election we have another major political party rise from the ashes. It will be formed by a combination of strong, hard working Independents and Greens. It will be led by an inspirational leader who will not be afraid to stand up to the Murdoch Empire, the Drug Companies and the Mining conglomerates and most of all will always be looking at the big picture and planning for future generations.
Joking about ‘water lapping at your door’ seems to at once, recognise a serious problem, not deny it, and somehow find that funny. Not in his backyard, yet…
The Liberal party cannot govern alone they must be in coalition with the National party. However, any alignment between Labor and the Greens or Independents is portrayed as a disaster, the sky will fall in.
Do they really believe reasoning people will swallow that?
Why are they never challenged on this assertion?