Sky News host Paul Murray rips into climate CEO after speech praising China for playing 'as a team' while criticising Australia

Sky News AU

09-07-2025

Sky News host Paul Murray has torn into the CEO of a major climate change charity who praised China – the world's worst carbon emitter – in a bizarre speech in which he attacked Australians for not being team players.
Murray ridiculed the comments made by Smart Energy Council Chief Executive John Grimes during his speech at the National Press Club on Wednesday, after he commended China's system because 'China plays as a team'.
The Sky News host said the Chinese government, not the Chinese people, was actually a 'ruthless machine' which put tanks in front of protesters in 1989 and would 'de-person' someone in an instant for speaking out against China.
Mr Grimes also took aim at Australians, who he claimed simply 'tear each other apart', while applauding the Chinese Communist Party's approach to energy.
'One thing you can say about the Chinese system is that China plays as a team,' Mr Grimes said.
'Australia spends all of our time trying to tear each other apart. That is no way to compete for Team Australia.'
Murray said he did not want to be more China, as Mr Grimes suggested, but more like 'free countries'.
'In a free country, you are allowed to disagree with your government. You are allowed to disagree with your fellow citizens. You are allowed to do so out of principle, out of opinion, out of because it's Tuesday, OK? That's our country,' Murray said.
The Sky News host said there was not a 'gasp' of a reaction at the NPC, before explaining why Australia should steer clear of emulating China's approach to government.
'I hope (Mr Grimes) and everyone else who thinks why can't we be a little more CCP remembers the Uyghurs,' Murray said.
He then presented a BBC article which reported the Uyghur population was being used as slave labour to make solar panels.
'Even Joe Biden, who didn't even know what day it was or what city he was in, when he was president, banned the importation of slave labour solar panels,' he said.
'Australia has not made that decision.'
Mr Grimes also acknowledged that he 'spend[s] a bit of time in China' which has included a visit to the battery maker, CATL, which has been accused of being linked to slave labour.
The charity has also been tied to numerous other 'black-listed' organisations.
The Smart Energy Council is listed with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), a status that exempts it from paying tax.
The Albanese government relied heavily on cost estimates produced by the Smart Energy Council during the federal election campaign.
These were highly disputed claims that put the cost of the Coalition's nuclear energy rollout at $600 billion, well above the $331 billion calculated by independent consultants Frontier Economics.
China has long been the largest CO2 producer, spewing 15,779 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2023, according to independent scientific project, Climate Action Tracker.
That was about 2.5 more than the United States at 6,378 tonnes, and about 30 times more than Australia at 530 million tonnes.
China's coal demands have also exceeded the rest of the world combined as the source continues to play a disproportionate role in the energy landscape.
The Climate Action Tracker (CAT) has warned that China's efforts towards net zero remain 'highly insufficient'.