Abbott to stand in leadership vote

30 November, 2009 by

Just in:

Liberal Tony Abbott says he will throw his hat into the ring against Malcolm Turnbull tomorrow whether or not Joe Hockey is a contender for the liberal leadership.

Mr Abbott said after a day of discussions with Mr Hockey, who is in favour of a free vote on the emissions trading scheme, he had decided he needed to challenge whoever may be standing at the Liberal party room meeting.

The latest bombshell throws yet more confusion into the leadership debacle.

Mr Abbott had always said he would stand aside if Mr Hockey contested the leadership, but that position has changed because the shadow treasurer isn’t willing to adopt the hard line on the ETS.

Mr Abbott addressed reporters at Parliament House.‘‘I respect Joe’s position, I think that if Joe wants to run for leader on the basis of a free vote he is entitled to do so,’’ Mr Abbott said.

“But …it is just not possible for a credible party to have a free vote.”

Mr Turnbull is refusing to step aside as federal Liberal leader, saying he will contest a leadership contest if a spill vote is passed.

“I will be standing tomorrow,” he told reporters in Canberra.

Read it here.

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Rudd's climate clichés

30 November, 2009 by

climate_clicheKevin Rudd has delusions of grandeur (or should we say, delusions of adequacy) thanks to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, and thinks that he can dispense wisdom from on high towards the bottom dwellers back home in Australia. Unfortunately, all he can dispense is vacuous platitudes and climate clichés that are just, like, so last year:

“When it comes to the future of climate change in Australia, further delay on climate change equals denial on climate change,” Rudd said when questioned about the Liberal Party revolt.

“I understand Mr Turnbull, the leader of the opposition, has said something similar in the last 24 hours. [But he’s a fruit loop like you, Kevin – Ed]

“Our view is very simple. [In fact, I am very simple too – Ed]

“The time for delay on climate change action has well and truly passed.

“In Australia we have more than 10 years of delay on climate change action and after 10 years of delay on climate change action, continued delay is nothing less than climate change denial.”

Like a child, he believes everything the IPCC says, and won’t listen to anything else. And the only reason he wants the ETS through parliament is for his own selfish vanity.

I think we all know who the real deniers are.

Read it here.

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BREAKING: Hockey backs Turnbull (for now)

30 November, 2009 by

There are conflicting reports, but it appears that Joe Hockey has confirmed he does not want the top job, and will support Malcolm Turnbull by voting against a spill tomorrow. With Tony Abbott the only declared candidate, it will be a Left/Right fight.

But Hockey has not ruled out standing if there IS a spill.

More to come.

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Barking madness in UK: "GPs should offer climate change advice"

30 November, 2009 by

Bonkers: any psychiatrists around?

Bonkers: any psychiatrists around?

Away from the intrigue of the Liberal leadership contest, here’s a timely reminder that climate madness is alive and well all over the globe, and nowhere more so than in the UK:

Doctors should give patients advice on climate change, a leading body of medical experts has claimed.

The Climate and Health Council, a collaboration of worldwide health organisations including the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal Society of Medicine, believes there is a direct link between climate change and better health.

Their controversial plan would see GPs and nurses give out advice to their patients on how to lower their carbon footprint.

The Council believes that climate change “threatens to radically undermine the health of all peoples”.

It believes health professionals are ideally placed to promote change because “we have ethical responsibility…..as well as the capacity to influence people and our political representatives to take the necessary action”.

I can just imagine: “I’m sorry I can’t treat your chronic flatulence, but I suggest you purchase a boat-load of emissions permits instead.”

How about just letting medical professionals get on with their job – i.e. making sick people well again – instead of burdening them with pointless climate propaganda? That would be a novel idea.

Read it here, and see the Climate and Health Council website here.

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Joe Hockey firms as likely Liberal leader

30 November, 2009 by

Turnbull lite?

Turnbull lite?

But he’s going to have to completely reverse his policy on the ETS, and that isn’t going to be particularly convincing. And Turnbull’s outburst at Nick Minchin “and the wreckers” with Laurie Oakes yesterday has backfired spectacularly as well:

IN a strong sign he is about to throw his hat into the Liberal leadership ring, Joe Hockey is holding talks at his Sydney home with Queensland Liberal Peter Dutton.

Mr Dutton is viewed as a potential candidate for the deputy Liberal leader’s spot, The Australian reports.

The pair arrived in separate cars today and made no comment as they entered the Hockey family home.

However, smiling Mr Hockey joked to the waiting media “you’re breeding”.

While Tony Abbott has also declared his intention to run, he may pull out of the race if Mr Hockey enters the ring.

Liberals say support for Mr Turnbull is bleeding away after his angry performance on Channel Nine’s Laurie Oakes interview where he attacked Mr Hockey, Senate leader Nick Minchin and Mr Abbott.

This is not looking particularly good for the party. Hockey is an ally of Turnbull’s – it’s going to be very awkward for him to stand against his leader. He will of course have to resign from the shadow cabinet before standing. The fight looks like being Turnbull -vs- Turnbull-lite, which is not what the party needs.

Read it here.

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Rudd's cliché-ridden comments on CHOGM

30 November, 2009 by

Still trusts the IPCC, bless…

Still trusts the IPCC, bless…

Like a cracked record, Kevin Rudd churns out the same tired old clichés about climate change, despite the fact that we are now in a post-CRU world. Poor Kevin still believes every word the IPCC says, despite the fact that his, and indeed the entire globe’s, policy on climate change is, in all probability, based on fudged data.

But they’re not going to let the chance of global government and global socialism slip by just because the science is fraudulent. And Kevin Rudd isn’t going to let the chance of a cushy job at the UN in about 2015 slip by either. So he’s still pressing ahead at full speed:

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who helped draft the document, said yesterday the consensus at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Trinidad and Tobago was a “significant step forward” to a Copenhagen deal.

“That single voice is saying to the world that we, as the Commonwealth, representing one-third of the world’s population, believe the time for action on climate change has come,” Mr Rudd said.

“The clock is ticking with Copenhagen. We’ve achieved one further step, a significant step forward, with this communique and we believe that the political goodwill and resolve exists to secure a comprehensive agreement.”

The declaration does not set emission targets but calls for “an internationally legally binding agreement” at Copenhagen. It recognises “the need for an early peaking year for global emissions”. (source)

And after all the excitement at India coming on board following Obama’s magic touch a while ago, one of their number candidly reveals their true intention, which is virtually “business as usual”:

INDIA’S chief climate change negotiator has flatly rejected taking on emission reduction targets a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the country would commit to cuts conditionally.

India, one of the world’s top greenhouse gas emitters, has yet to offer figures on reining in its carbon output, with just over a week to go until UN climate talks start in Copenhagen.

Singh said yesterday that India is “willing to sign on to an ambitious global target for emissions reductions or limiting temperature increase” provided developed countries share in the burden of funding mitigation.

But in an interview broadcast today, chief negotiator Shyam Saran told the NDTV news channel that India is under no pressure to join the United States and China – the world’s top two carbon sources – in announcing firm numbers ahead of the summit.

“There cannot be any emission cuts,” said Saran, adding that the developed world does not expect countries like India to adopt emission reduction targets but instead to accept “deviation from business as usual”. (source)

So there’s as little chance of a global deal at Copenhagen as ever.

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ETS "attacks Australia's national foundations"

29 November, 2009 by

Climate sense from Terry McCrann

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CRU: raw data "dumped" to save space

29 November, 2009 by

Data disposal services

Data disposal services

No joke. This is apparently what happened at CRU, one of the main sources of data for the global warming alarmist camp, according to the UK Times Online:

SCIENTISTS at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have admitted throwing away much of the raw temperature data on which their predictions of global warming are based.

It means that other academics are not able to check basic calculations said to show a long-term rise in temperature over the past 150 years.

The UEA’s Climatic Research Unit (CRU) was forced to reveal the loss following requests for the data under Freedom of Information legislation.

The data were gathered from weather stations around the world and then adjusted to take account of variables in the way they were collected. The revised figures were kept, but the originals — stored on paper and magnetic tape — were dumped to save space when the CRU moved to a new building.

And the response from “proper” scientists is understandably one of amazement:

Roger Pielke, professor of environmental studies at Colorado University, discovered data had been lost when he asked for original records. “The CRU is basically saying, ‘Trust us’. So much for settling questions and resolving debates with science,” he said.

One of the comments sums it up well:

“Dear Inland Revenue [ATO, IRS], I enclose my latest accounts. Please note that I accidentally destroyed all the original invoices but I promise they were all entered correctly. Honest!”

Read it here.

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Delusional Turnbull: "I will win"

29 November, 2009 by

Monty Python's The Black Knight

Monty Python's The Black Knight: "It's just a flesh wound!"

Whoever leads the Liberal party after Tuesday, it must not be Malcolm Turnbull. If he wins the leadership spill, it will only put off his execution until the inevitable apocalyptic defeat at the next election. But Malcolm Turnbull is blind to all of this, and blusters on in ever more extreme rhetoric:

Mr Turnbull this morning lashed out at his critics, in particular Tony Abbott, whom he will likely face in a leadership ballot on Tuesday, and Senate leader Nick Minchin.

“They are destroying the Liberal Party,” Mr Turnbull told Channel Nine. “There is a recklessness and a wilfulness in these men, which is going to destroy the Liberal Party.

“I will win on Tuesday. I am unbowed.

“Joe Hockey has told me as recently as last night that I have his complete support.

“I am not interested in becoming a mouthpiece or a patsy or a tool for people whose views are completely wrong and are contrary to the best interests of our nation, our planet and indeed the Liberal Party.

“If this issue is not resolved, the climate change war that Nick Minchin and his wreckers have started will continue to destroy the Liberal Party until such time as we are destroyed by Kevin Rudd in an election.”

Right result, wrong cause, pal. That will be the result if you remain leader. And I’m glad Hockey’s backing you – we don’t want Hockey as a leader – soft left, Turnbull-lite. So with luck it will be a straight fight between a deluded leader who is finished but can’t see it, and Tony Abbott. There is only one choice.

Read it here.

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UPDATED: Voters want ETS delayed

29 November, 2009 by

Herald Sun

Poll results surprising

Because they don’t understand it. Thanks to this government, all they have heard is climate alarmism and the constant refrain that we need the ETS to “save the planet [for the sake of our children and grandchildren – Ed]“, even though it will do nothing for the climate whatsoever. The Herald Sun has some poll results that should make interesting reading for the Tony Abbott camp:

  • 81% of Coalition supporters (74% overall) want the ETS delayed, which means only 26% of voters back the Rudd-Turnbull position
  • 90% of Coalition supporters (80% overall) say they do not understand the ETS and want the government to explain it better (which they won’t, because then they will have to admit it will cripple Australia’s economy for no benefit)
  • 73% of Labor voters are in the dark on the ETS!

The only way we will have this proper debate on the ETS is via a full blown election campaign. It is clear from this that the Australian public are finally wising up to the spin of Rudd & Wong, and that Malcolm Turnbull is completely out of step with the wishes of the electorate and his own party.

If the next election is a referendum on the ETS, there is no guarantee that Rudd would win.

Read it here.

UPDATE: Piers Ackerman writes:

IT’S a matter of grave concern for stalwart rank-and-file Liberal Party members that Malcolm Turnbull’s number one supporter for his global-warming stance is now no less a figure than Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, while his number two supporter is the former union leader, Greg Combet.

That the embattled Opposition leader enjoys such support underscores the anger of those Liberals who feel Turnbull has taken liberties with his leadership in supporting Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s totally flawed emissions trading legislation.

The backing of a duo last united so publicly in their bid to prop up the historically corrupt Maritime Union of Australia’s stranglehold on the nation’s docks, has not gone unnoticed; and nor has Turnbull’s use of stalling tactics more usually applied in the spivvy world of corporate takeovers than party politics.

Read it here.

And a Poll on The West Australian’s website gives a 70/30 split against the amended ETS after 700 or so votes (see here) – thanks to reader Russ.

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