Hubris
I assume Julia Gillard must be a reasonably intelligent person to have achieved the rank of Prime Minister. And you don’t make partner of a law firm without a modicum of ability. However, her wilful blindness on the subject of climate change and Australia’s response to it is breathtaking – and embarrassing. She has abandoned all critical thought on the subject and is guided by a toxic mixture of ignorance and arrogance, as this quote reveals:
Ms Gillard said yesterday the Government had no option but to take action on climate change.
“We know we must lead because the science says we must,” Ms Gillard told the NSW ALP state conference.
“From July 1 next year, the freedom to pollute our skies must cease – polluters will have to pay.” (source)
Ignoring the disingenuous, but now ubiquitous, use of the word pollution for a harmless trace gas, the hubris at work here is astonishing.
- Australia has “no option” on climate change action, but China, India, the US and most of the rest of the world have, apparently, because they aren’t doing anything.
- Why must Australia lead the pack? We produce less than 1.3% of global emissions. Nothing we do will make any difference to the climate, globally or locally. This is pure arrogance. And the rest of the world isn’t going to follow our lead, believe me.
- “The science says we must”? Really? If you surround yourself with alarmist advisers, all of whom have their snouts in the global warming hysteria funding trough, exclude or suppress any dissent, only listen to one side of a highly complex story, and suspend all rational thought processes, then I guess you’re right! Simple!
- “Freedom to pollute our skies”? Amazing how words can be twisted when there is a political agenda to force through. Nothing about the carbon tax has anything to do with pollution. And her assumption that a carbon tax in Australia will somehow “clean up” Australian skies alone, ignores the fact that we don’t live in a polythene bubble, isolated from the rest of the global atmosphere.
As this blog has said many times before, a price on carbon in Australia will do nothing for the climate, locally or globally. Judging by the newspaper reports this morning, all it will do is redistribute wealth amongst the population, from rich to poor.
Stealth socialism at work, under the guise of environmentalism. Let’s hope the people aren’t fooled.
Australian Climate Madness 
I personally have never been so ashamed and embarrassed by any leader in my life.
Its really sad that the Labor party has sunk to such depths.
Ms. Gillard, Bob Brown, the Australian Labor Party, The Greens, Messrs Windsor, Oakshott and Wilkie are treating the Australian population with contempt. If they say something long enough and loud enough they’re hoping some people might just believe what they are saying is true and will help our once great nation. But the fact is, their collective carbon dioxide tax scam is all politics, to appease The Greens and help Ms. Gillard stay as Prime Minister, it has very little to do with science.
If they argued on a platform to actually do something real for the environment, like stopping soil erosion, cleaning up our rivers and lakes from toxic pollutants, nature and animal conservation or the like, then I’m sure most Australians would embrace that policy as a positive. However, claiming to do something for our environment by restricting our carbon dioxide output is madness and will do nothing for nobody.
Never been so ashamed to live in australia. And never been so ashamed of a PM of this country.
Warning – all lie detectors in and near Australia should be switched off on Sunday evening due to risk of extreme overload damage.
She said “democracy is about leadership..” What a travesty!
Has the concept of “representative democracy” died in Australia?. Will the lower house now be renamed the “House of Leaders”? Will we the led be given a say in this important constitutional change or is the redefinition of democracy in Australia already complete?
Election now or no more need for any elections?
It’s hard to credit that there is not a single member of the parliamentary ALP that has the integrity or the spine to adhere to the single most important pre-election promise they and their party made to the people who elected them.
The sheer gutlessness of the labor caucus is truly astounding- particularly those who are also members of Cabinet. Just as they were all too gutless to stand up to Rudd’s contempt for the cabinet process, now they are all too gutless to stand against Gillard’s perversion of democracy.
This morning on “Insiders” Oakeshott with his usual self-satisfaction, declared the “multi-party” climate committee a satisfactory Cabinet process. When, oh when will a labor backbencher stand up and declare that (s)he too has an equal right to be consulted? Don’t they realise they are being taken for granted or don’t they care.
This crop of labor politicians will go down in history as the most gutless in history. Anything to cling to the trappings of office I guess.
From what I have seen of (a lot of) foreign media, no one cares what happens in Australia, unless its being washed away, or ravaged by bushfires. As if anyone will follow suit with a CO2 tax because we say we’ll have one…
Once the dust has settled on this (one way or another), then I predict a push for death (sorry, Estate) taxes, probably unofficially coupled with pro-euthenasia policies. When prices skyrocket due to the CO2 tax (still hoping common sense prevails though), then I would hardly be surprised if the Greens recommend reducing/removing the GST.
As an aside, I recall that Bob Brown was reported as being stuck in Tassie when the volcanic ash thing happened, it’s funny that for a party keen on sustainability, he doesn’t routinely go by ferry to Melbourne, and ground transport to Canberra. I guess he is too important for that, its just the rest of us that should be feeling guilty for using an aeroplane far less often than he does.
“I assume Julia Gillard must be a reasonably intelligent person to have achieved the rank of Prime Minister.”
With respect, I reckon that you have made a false assumption: it does not take intelligence (and certainly not wisdom) for a manipulative female to rise to the top in Labor politics, I submit. Our beloved leader has, inter alia, cunning, fluency in speech better than her comrades (which is not saying much), an ability to mimic intelligence (though marked by remarkable lapses), and a sociopathic willingness to lie brazenly with a lack of remorse for causing harm.
Agreed, she exhibits all the qualities of a puff adder…
Agreed.
It’s like watching a remake of the Caine Mutiny
I seriously think that with Mad Julia the cheese has well and truly slid off the cracker – what I’m struggling with is whether it is megalomania or messianic zeal. Interesting times ahead.
Sadly, it doesn’t matter if every man woman and child in the country didn’t want the tax – the government is in power, the senate is on their side and they’re just going to do it regardless.
We’ll have to wait till government and senate is free of these ideologues before any government can overturn it – and that might not be for more than 5 years. Either that or its time for a peoples revolt, however, I don’t see those on benefits standing up to fight though, they’ll all be better off, having been given a nice extra slice of my income – trying to prise those carbon dollars from their grubby hands won’t be easy.
As I write this she is spouting off in Canberra. There is an online Q & A showing up under the live foxtel broadcast. 99% of the questions are from people wanting to know how much money is in this for them.
I am ashamed of this Nation, who can be bought off so cheaply.
People of Australia you have to believe in the Human Carbon Pollution Mantra to want to accept the handouts (if you are eligible) from this government.
Talk about being bought off to silence opposition.
Gillard and her government are a disgrace and they are cementing their place in political oblivion.
AGW and CAGW are Lysenkoism re-branded
People of Australia you have to believe in the Human Carbon Pollution – Global Warming Mantra to want to accept the handouts (if you are eligible) from this government.
Talk about being bought off to silence any and all opposition.
http://justmeint.wordpress.com/2011/07/10/a-new-generation-of-frogs/
Can we please end all this and just call an election?
The Australian Government and Labor party is now on a deathwatch, due to self-inflicted wounds!
Watch peoples standard of living nose dive. Watch industry and manufacturing flee this poor broken country thanks to the lunatics running the country.
Gillard may ram is hateful CO2 ETS/tax through but is spells the end of the Labor government and the greens in the next election. Maybe they can join the threatened CO2 climate destroying Camels in the lonely outback. Cause they won’t see anymore-political power for the following 20 years after that.
I think I am being generous by saying they don’t have the brains of a flea circus.CO2 is life.
When referring to Gillard’s previous short career as a lawyer, you must keep in mind it was with one firm and a firm that owes its existence to the government workers compensation scheme. It is really therefore just an extension of the public service and the lawyers do fill-in-the-form stuff for injury compensation claims. That’s right, a sort of snouts-in-the-taxpayers-trough law market niche that the Labor party expoits to provide a professional background for aspiring politicians before it parachutes them under head office affirmative action plans into safe working class seats. This is why Labor politicians like Gillard are not of the people and represent an elitist politically correct careerist socialist ruling class (a version of the dictatorship of the proletariat).
You have it bad, for now. Her speech should help.
“A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks.” Orwell, 1946
Cheers
(9) charlie : i receive benefits but i would happily stand up as a ‘denier ‘ as we are now known .
(10 ) justmeinit : on the contrary , although i don’t believe in this hogwash , i WILL be collecting my share of the compensation handouts ,,, the current labour gov’t owes us something for their stuff up
I to will be taking every dollar this stupid government is prepared to throw at me and will be using it to use the most CO2 intensive products I can find.
I am so DISGUSTED that we have a creature like this as our Prime Minister
shame on you Juliar Gillard
I ask Labor back benchers to do some soul searching, and realise that they are only considered important as a number to maintain Gillard’s hold on government. That is why they were treated with contempt during this Carbon Tax release, a pathetic phone hook up and wow betide them if they stuff it up
These hard working MP’s do care about their constituents, were under the impression after the last election the review recommended that the political spin doctors and focus groups were to be history.
That hasn’t eventuated and the Greens are more relevant that Labor Back Bench MP.
Now is the time to stand up to ALL you treat you like crap, 9 MP’s did it with the live cattle trade, and there are just as many suffer backlash in their electorates so continue it on, cross the floor and the people, small business and industry of Australia will not forget your action at the next election.
Think about it!
they even looked and sounded like a flea circus.absolute proof that being brain dead is not fatal. CO2 is life
What as total stuff-up !! No-one we know or speak to have anything but the greatest contempt for PM Gillard and her bunch of total cowards – particularly in the Back Bench – and the so-called Independents. They need to note that, come the next election they are all politically D E A D !!!!!
We really have to get out on the streets and protest now. How this Welsh git got to be PM of of Australia , god knows. Natural born to hold any office in this country. We insisted on it for our Governors General.
Your analysis of Juliar is right, up to a point. You forget to say that she is ruthlessly and wilfully destroying a country to remain PM of that country. She’s right up their with Zimbabwe’s Mugabe.
The handouts will rapidly be outweighed by the taxes.
All my life I have watched the labour party shoot itself in the foot,well this time they missed and shot themselves in the head. CO2 is life
“What is the difference between ignorance and arrogance? ” I asked. “I don’t know and I don’t care”,he replied.
dont worry fred–its only an invisible gas and does no harm..sic