Conservative Party leader Cory Bernardi says climate change alarmism is a nonsense promoted by the United Nations to ultimately give it more power and redistribute global wealth.
In stark contrast, new MP Zali Steggall is a global-warming crusader, yet drives an SUV and hasn’t bothered to put solar panels on her roof.
But now that the independent has beaten Liberal Tony Abbott in his beachside Sydney seat of Warringah, she’s being begged to set a powerful example.
Andrew Bolt writes (with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek) in his Herald Sun column:
“The proposal: wind turbines are to be placed along the foreshore, taking advantage of the sea breezes. Let’s lead the way by example, for everyone who voted against climate action …
“Let’s do it for the children!”
“I wish to have proof that Ms Steggall is as serious as she claims to be about action on climate change.”
“It’s only fair that the woke voters in Warringah put up with these monstrosities, like those of us who live out in the boonies do.”
“They voted for it so they should get it.”
But there’s more to this than a joke. Labor lost this supposedly unlosable election for many reasons, not least having an unconvincing leader, scary tax policies and an intolerance of Christians and the many Australians whom Labor leader Bill Shorten called “knuckledraggers” or those from “the top of end of town”.
But the election was fundamentally lost in Queensland, where Labor expected to pick up several seats – only to lose two as its primary vote dropped nearly 4 per cent.
The reason Queensland was so sour on Labor? Because it was there, and only there, that Labor let slip a specific example of what its vast global-warming plans might cost: Queenslanders would almost certainly lose the giant Adani coal project and its 8000 jobs, direct and indirect.
That is not the only example of a warmist crusade crashing once voters realised precisely what Doing Something about global warming involved.
In France, Emmanuel Macron triggered months of violent riots when he said it would mean higher prices for petrol.
In Australia, Julia Gillard’s Labor government was doomed the instant she broke a promise and imposed a 10 per cent carbon tax.
Global warming is popular when it’s an idea. It’s poison when it’s a sacrifice.
That’s exactly why even global-warming prophets are notorious for not living as they preach.
Three weeks ago, actor Emma Thompson addressed the giant Extinction Rebellion global- warming protest in London and has instructed “we should all fly less” and eat less meat to save the planet – but then flew home to America in first class, dining on beef carpaccio.
Grammy winner Drake, an alarmist who raps that “the weather’s changing … like the world is ending”, is even more brazen. This month, he showed off the massive Boeing 767 he’d bought as a personal jet.
And watch Warringah. What’s the bet that Steggall and her voters would never allow a wind farm along their own coast? That they’d never force every local to ditch their gas guzzler and buy an electric car? Would never decouple themselves from the coal-fired power grid?
That’s the point Labor now should accept as it decides how to reset.
When even Steggall can’t be bothered buying solar panels, Labor must realise most voters think the pain of big global-warming policies is just not worth the gain.
And, as this election showed, most are too smart to buy Labor’s lie that its policy can’t be costed or costs nothing.
Until there are wind farms in Warringah, Labor had better adjust to the fact that most voters won’t wear their useless pain.
Senator Bernardi has long called out the whole myth of fighting climate change as a dangerous cult saying nothing we do to mitigate climate change can make any appreciable difference.
