Václav Klaus in Sydney

26 July, 2011 by

Alan Jones, Václav Klaus and Ian Plimer (click for full size)

I was fortunate enough to attend the reception at the Wentworth Sofitel in Sydney last night, where the president of the Czech republic, Václav Klaus, spoke on “Climate Change: the dangerous faith”. Drawing comparisons between the totalitarian instincts of the Greens and the Communism of Europe, President Klaus spoke of the erosion of freedom in pursuit of environmental ends.

Professor Ian Plimer also spoke, and President Klaus was introduced by Alan Jones.

There were a number of high profile audience members, including Associate Professor Stewart Franks, Tom Switzer, editor of the Spectator magainze in Australia and Miranda Devine of the Daily Telegraph. Australian politics was also represented with Bronwyn Bishop, Craig Kelly and Senator Nick Minchin and his wife Kerry:

The author with Kerry and Nick Minchin (click for full size)

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Minchin: "offensive nonsense from known global warming alarmists"

23 May, 2011 by

Nick Minchin

Senator Minchin we salute you. Speaking for all of us on this side of the debate, Nick Minchin doesn’t mince words in a classic quote:

LIBERAL powerbroker Nick Minchin has attacked a new report that declares the world is in imminent danger from human-induced climate change as offensive nonsense from known “global warming alarmists”.

Senator Minchin, who played a key role in terminating Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership over his support for emissions trading, said there was still a legitimate debate over the role of humans in climate change.

“The so-called Climate Commission is a Labor government-appointed committee of known climate alarmists, selectively appointed … to further the cause of global warming alarmism,” he said following today’s release of the commission’s first report.

“I think everybody should take anything they say with a grain of salt,” Senator Minchin said.

“What’s most offensive is (climate commissioner) Will Steffen suggesting the scientific debate is over.

“That’s nonsense because there is a very lively scientific debate about the role of human-induced Co2 emissions in climate change.” (source)

Couldn’t have put it better. BRAVO!

(h/t Dave N in the comments)

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Bravo! Minchin, Bernardi savage climate alarmism

12 October, 2010 by

Nick Minchin

As this deluded Labor government rushes to commit economic suicide by putting a price on carbon [dioxide] next year, Nick Minchin and Cory Bernardi are virtually the only politicians in this twisted, politically correct world brave enough to call out the climate scam for what it is. As the Sydney Morning Herald reports:

THE Liberal senator Nick Minchin has told the organiser of a policy conference how ”appalled” he was that one of its themes referred to Australia’s ”necessary transition to a low-carbon future”.

In a letter to the head of the Global Foundation, Steve Howard, Senator Minchin said the theme – discussed at the foundation’s Australian Unlimited conference in June – sounded like something produced by ”an extreme green group”.

”Your language does not even make any sense. What do you mean by ‘a low carbon future’? Do you mean carbon dioxide and if you do why don’t you say so?” Senator Minchin wrote. He was ”shocked” to see the report referring to carbon dioxide as ”pollution … which you must know is a gross misrepresentation of a clear odourless gas vital to life on Earth”.

But you have to realise, calling it “carbon pollution” is all part of the media/government ploy to mislead the unsuspecting public. Bernardi on the other hand has the guts to question the science, and isn’t afraid of the inevitable “denier” response from the government:

On his blog yesterday Senator Bernardi, who is Mr Abbott’s parliamentary secretary, wrote that Australia should be having an inquiry into whether there were any ”scientific facts” to back the ”climate change alarm”, rather than talking about policy solutions for the ‘‘non-problem of anthropogenic carbon dioxide”.

”Thousands of people are making billions of dollars out of a pseudoscientific racket that has conned millions of people around the world. We cannot allow it to continue any longer,” he wrote.

After all the climate nonsense spouted by Gillard, Combet and their ilk, it’s like a breath of fresh air.

Read it here.

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Wong the apologist defends IPCC

18 January, 2010 by

Will still be there for a very long time

An update on this story. Despite the fact that the IPCC has been caught out again, Penny Wong’s knee-jerk reaction is to defend them, because she knows, as well as anyone, that if the IPCC is peddling a crock of s#!t, then the government’s climate policy (on which it is 100% based) is not worth the paper it’s written on. So Penny’s doing her best (which isn’t saying much, let’s face it) to shore it up:

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong says a mistake made by a United Nations body on the predicted rate of glacial melting does not mean all its findings are wrong.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) claimed in a report that the glaciers in the Himalayas could vanish in 30 years.

However that claim was based on a conversation between a journalist and a single Indian scientist a decade ago, according to British newspaper the Sunday Times.

The Federal Opposition says this shows the organisation’s scientific findings lack credibility.

Opposition energy spokesman Nick Minchin says the mistake made by the IPCC calls into question the Government’s proposed emissions trading scheme.

“For Australia to act ahead of the rest of the world based on [Prime Minister Kevin] Rudd’s reliance on this UN committee, which we now find is presenting reports based on mere speculation, [would be a mistake],” he said.

But Ms Wong says the main claims of climate change science remain unchallenged.

“This is a report that has been peer reviewed extensively [Ah yes, peer-review, the be all and end all of climate science, so corrupt itself that few papers challenging the consensus ever get published, because the alarmists threaten and intimidate publications which consider doing so. See Climategate – Ed]; very few errors have been found in it and none that challenge the central findings,” she said.

“Climate change is real and human beings are contributing to it, and people like Senator Minchin, who have never believed in climate change, will jump on anything in order to justify their position.”

Yawn, yawn, yawn. Sorry Penny, but we’re all bored senseless by your repetitive, robotic pronouncements.

Read it here.

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ETS: Electricity prices to double within two years

1 January, 2010 by

Minchin: stunned

… and treble by 2024. All thanks to the ETS. Fortunate, then, that it will never make it into law:

New modelling by the Government’s energy market operator reveals the wholesale price of electricity will rise from $30 per megawatt hour in 2010 to about $100 by 2024.

In a national transmission report released before Christmas, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) predicts the price will double to $60 per megawatt hour by 2012.

The wholesale price makes up less than half of the final bill that reaches each customer, who also pays distribution costs.

The AEMO modelling is based on Treasury’s carbon price estimates under the proposed emissions trading scheme, which from next year will force big polluters to pay for their emissions. [Er, well it would if it was actually law yet – Ed]

Opposition energy spokesman Nick Minchin yesterday accused the Rudd Government of trying to hide the real costs of tackling climate change.

“I think Australians will be stunned to learn that their power bills could more than triple as a result of Mr Rudd’s climate change policies,” Senator Minchin said.

Read it here.

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More CRU analysis in "The Australian"

24 November, 2009 by

Nick Minchin

Nick Minchin

I really hope that Liberal MPs and Senators read The Australian this morning, because it may be the last chance for them to realise the scale of (or even become aware of)  the WarmerGate scandal. Nick Minchin comments on the emails:

Opposition Senate leader and Australia’s unofficial chief climate change sceptic Nick Minchin says the email scandal has strengthened a point he has long made.

“The leaked emails certainly substantiate the point I’ve been making that the scientific debate as to the small degree of global warming in the latter part of the 20th century is far from settled,” he says.

“These emails reveal at least prima facie evidence that supporters of the theory of anthropogenic global warming are going to considerable lengths to doctor evidence and to suppress information and intimidate those who don’t support that theory.”

Minchin says the apparent fraud signifies a “rather disturbing culture, at least in the East Anglia CRU, which is one of most significant in the world in terms of determining outcomes of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change”.

“For those who don’t think the IPCC should be taken as gospel, this does confirm that we shouldn’t be unquestioning of the opinions of the UN commitee.”

Geologist and climate change denier Ian Plimer says he hinted in his recent book Heaven and Earth that there is fraud afoot among climate scientists.

“This substantiates what I hinted at,” Plimer says.

“Here we have the Australian government underpinning the biggest economic decision this country has ever made and it’s all based on fraud.”

And as expected, Penny Wong comes out with a classic example of breathtaking hypocrisy:

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said in the Senate yesterday that the emails amounted to “a free exchange of views on climate change. We on this side are happy to have that debate.”

Priceless.

Read it here.

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Labor ministers get desperate

19 November, 2009 by

Playground bully. Needs standing up to.

Playground bully. Needs standing up to.

So desperate are the Rudd government to sneak the ETS into legislation before anybody realises what a crock it is, that senior ministers are starting to sound like playground bullies:

KEVIN Rudd has demanded Malcolm Turnbull guarantee his divided partyroom will vote on an emissions trading scheme by the end of next week.

Accusing Senate leader Nick Minchin of “incubating a rural militia from the backwoods of Montana”, Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner warned Mr Turnbull he was being held hostage by the “wackier” end of the Liberal Party.

…

Seizing on opposition spokesman Ian Macfarlane’s concession today that the Rudd government had a “mandate” to introduce the scheme [Why on earth did Macfarlane do that? How stupid can you get – Ed], Mr Rudd said the Liberal leader must now guarantee his troops would vote before Parliament rises for the year.

“Stand up today and confirm there will be a vote on the CPRS,” Mr Rudd demanded.

If it were me, I would have two words to say to Mr Rudd, and the second one being “off”.

Read it here.

PS. And of course, Rudd cannot resist the opportunity of using the current heatwave as somehow “evidence” for “global warming”, his dull intellect not yet having comprehended that weather isn’t climate.

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Climate sense from Nick Minchin

19 November, 2009 by

Climate sense at last…

Climate sense at last…

From The Australian:

Flanked by 17 Coalition supporters, including Deputy Senate leader Eric Abetz, a dozen Liberals and five Nationals MPs, Senator Minchin threw down a challenge to Mr Turnbull, launching a powerful attack on climate change science.

“The Senate overwhelmingly rejected this abomination in August – it should do so again,” Senator Minchin said.

“The Coalition has maintained from day one that this legislation should not be voted upon before we know the outcome of the Copenhagen conference.

“Until we know that other major economies are making firm commitments to enact domestic emissions trading schemes Australia should not act alone.”

Senator Minchin’s supporters also included Victorians Scott Ryan and Mitch Fifield, WA’s Alan Eggleston, Michaela Cash and Mathias Cormann, and SA’s Cory Bernardi, Alan Ferguson, David Bushby and Chris Back.

Senator Cormann told The Australian Online it was a show of support for Senator Minchin.

“It was a show of support for a great leader who gave a great speech,” he said.

“I am saying we should not finalise this until after Copenhagen. Obviously I hope the partyroom will agree to that.”

Senator Minchin said it was pure “vanity” for the Prime Minister to demand the legislation to pass before Copenhagen conference, particularly when the scheme would not start until mid 2011.

“The government’s cynical political agenda is quite naked. It is using the threat of a double dissolution to blackmail the Senate into supporting this radical legislation,” Senator Minchin said.

“It is literally crazy to be committing to an emissions trading scheme before we see the outcome of the discussions at Copenhagen. It is also frankly idiotic for this country to legislate and emissions trading scheme before the US Congress does so.”

His comments follow a warning from WA Liberal MP Denis Jensen that a third of the party – 30 MPs – could cross the floor if Malcolm Turnbull strikes a deal with Labor.

Read it here.

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Climate sense from Nick Minchin and Mitch Fifield

14 November, 2009 by

Nick Minchin

Nick Minchin

Nick Minchin has responded to his “fruit loop” critics with a dignity that some of them would do well to emulate:

“I get called lots of things as a politician, so being named after a breakfast cereal is pretty mild really,” he told The Weekend Australian.

“Over the past 30 years, I’ve got reasonably used to that type of stuff.

“I have very few attributes, but one of the few I have is a thick skin that’s been developed over many years in politics.”

…

He stressed they were not off-the-cuff thoughts and they reflected what he had said previously in the Senate.

“I always consider my statements deliberately and, naturally, I stand by everything I said,” he said.

“I stated my views clearly. I stand by the comments.“

Mitch Fifield

Mitch Fifield

And some sensible words about the climate debate from Senator Fifield:

In a message to a conference on the economic consequences of climate change obtained by The Weekend Australian, Senator Fifield accused proponents of an ETS of “a theological approach to discussion more suited to an inquisition“.

“To be a sceptic was once considered a good thing and to be at the heart of scientific inquiry and robust policy debate,” he said.

“Sadly, some have sought to demonise those who pose legitimate questions and to caricature them and their views.”

Senator Fifield attacked the government’s ETS proposal and climate policy, claiming both would “hike prices, increase taxes and destroy jobs for doubtful environmental benefits“. [Actually zero environmental benefits – Ed]

And he warned that any treaty stemming from Copenhagen “risks committing Australia to unforseen consequences, and should be approached with the utmost caution“.

It’s difficult to argue with that. Yet the government portrays such comments as heresy against the great Climate Change Religion.

Read it here.

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String of Liberals question AGW

10 November, 2009 by

Nick Minchin

Nick Minchin

Yesterday I posted about ABC’s Four Corners programme, and noted that the Opposition is under more scrutiny from the media on the ETS than the government. However, there was an upside to the programme, namely the string of Liberals, including Nick Minchin, leader of the Liberals in the Senate, who came out openly to question the AGW dogma. Here are some of his statements:

“I frankly strongly object to you know, politicians and others trying to terrify 12 year old girls that their planet’s about to melt, you know. I mean really it is appalling some of that sort of behaviour.

“For the extreme left [climate change] provides the opportunity to do what they’ve always wanted to do, to sort of de-industrialise the western world. You know the collapse of communism was a disaster for the left, and the, and really they embraced environmentalism as their new religion.

“I don’t mind being branded a sceptic about the theory that that human emissions and CO2 are the main driver of … global warming. I don’t accept that and I’ve said that publically. I guess if I can say it, I would hope that others would feel free to do so.”

We also heard dissenting views from Dennis Jensen, Cory Bernardi, Tony Abbott and Julian McGauran. The following exchange sums up the Liberals’ dilemma very well:

SARAH FERGUSON (to Dennis Jensen): Does that mean that Malcolm Turnbull is sort of too green for a majority of the party?

DENNIS JENSEN, LIBERAL MP, WA: I think that that would probably be fair to say.

Read the transcript and see the episode here.

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