Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott says the climate change movement will eventually be discredited and that reaching net zero by 2050 was irrational.
Mr. Abbott took part in the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference in London, which was also attended by former Prime Ministers John Howard and Scott Morrison.
Their participation formed part of a wider contingent of Australian centre-right MPs from the Liberal-National Coalition including Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor, Andrew Hastie, James Paterson, Jacinta Price, Matt Canavan, and Barnaby Joyce.
Mr. Abbott, speaking on the sidelines of the conference at an event for the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), the former prime minister said achieving net zero by 2050 was not just “utterly irrational, but actually impossible.”
Australian Labor Government Intent on Net Zero
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Nov. 2 said “net zero” was a major policy focus of the Labor Cabinet during a keynote address to the Economic and Social Outlook Conference in Melbourne.
He said “further action” was required to meet the targets.
“To get to net zero we have to deliver five major transmission projects by 2030,” Mr. Chalmers said. “And expand the National Electricity Market’s current storage capacity to more than ten times its current size by 2050.”
“We aren’t just impoverishing ourselves but also letting down our allies, like Japan, if we don’t keep developing our fossil fuel resources,” Mr. Abbott said at the launch.
Scott Hargreaves, executive director of the IPA, said Australia’s energy policy had become less stable.
John Howard Speaks in London
Meanwhile, fellow former Prime Minister John Howard shared his views on multiculturalism during a session at the conference.Mr. Howard, who served as prime minister from 1996 to 2007, said he had always struggled with the concept.
“I take the view that if people want to emigrate to a country, it’s on the basis that they adopt the values, and the practices and the standards of that country, and in return, they are entitled to have the host citizenry respect their culture without trying to create some kind of federation of tribes and cultures. You get into terrible trouble with that.”
Shadow Treasurer Says a Strong Economy Can Defeat Division
Coalition Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor spoke about the “latest political earthquake in Australia”—The Voice referendum to change the country’s Constitution.He said the referendum highlighted how universities and their metropolitan alumni had vastly different values, objectives, and beliefs from the rest of the country.
“With the support of a small, committed group of campaign leaders—many of whom are here this week—suburban and regional Australia said No and the proposal failed,” Mr. Taylor said.
“Every state said No. Towns like Nimmitabel voted almost 80 percent against The Voice. By contrast, our elite metropolitan centres voted a strong Yes.”
The Indigenous Voice to Parliament proposed to change the Constitution to embed a near-permanent advisory body into Parliament that would have authority to “make representations” on all matters deemed relevant to Indigenous Australians.
The referendum failed with 60 percent of the country voting No, with voters in all states and jurisdictions rejecting the proposal bar one—the Australian Capital Territory.
Incidentally, the strongest votes in support of The Voice came from Australia’s inner city electorates with Melbourne returning the highest Yes vote in the country at 77.2 percent.
Looking ahead, Mr. Taylor outlined a vision for supporting small business, and work over welfare.
He said government spending needed to be contained and said issues like reliable affordable energy, critical infrastructure, accessible home ownership, and better education needed to be delivered.
“The solutions to the economic challenges we face are equally helpful to combat the cultural politics that are dividing our cities from our regions,” Mr. Taylor said.
