
Our country cousins are making their own weather
Given our recent national combination of hurricanes, floods, droughts, bushfires, locusts, mice and everything else except earthquakes (and even some minor ones of those) leading to a devastating case of Coalition electile dysfunction, I have for some time worried about how to say to our country cousins: "It serves you right for voting for the Gnats" whenever another climate change induced disaster strikes.
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Sky News AU
6 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Liberal Senator Anne Ruston suggests Chris Bowen should 'have been fired years ago' in scathing takedown of Energy Minister
Liberal Senator Anne Ruston has issued a scathing assessment of Labor's policies under Chris Bowen, declaring the Energy Minister "would have been fired years ago" if he had been working for a private business. Following its emphatic victory in the May federal election, Labor has doubled down on its controversial renewables-led push to achieve net zero emissions. Speaking at the National Press Club on Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese suggested his party's victory demonstrated a clear mandate for the plan, despite ongoing community concerns surrounding several high profile projects. Mr Bowen, too, has doubled down on the push, insisting renewables remain the "cleanest and cheapest" way to power the national grid. However, Senator Ruston was quick to push back against the claims, accusing both men of "completely destroying the very thing that underpins our economy". "The Prime Minister just seems to be completely blind to any other solution, whatever that might be, so that Australians can have a reliable and affordable power," she told Sky News following Mr Albanese's address. "All he seems to caring about is his pursuit of this ideological sort of renewable energy future that he's proving not to be deliverable. "The government constantly is providing subsidies and handouts and the like of taxpayers' money to fix up a problem that is of their own making. "Our power bills were supposed to have gone down by this year. Clearly, the complete opposite's happened with increases of over $1,000." Senator Ruston then singled out Mr Bowen for particular criticism, as she questioned why Labor continued to stand by what she described as a "failed policy pursuit". "If Chris Bowen was an executive in any sensible company around Australia he would have been fired years ago and yet he still stays in this job completely destroying the very thing that underpins our economy and that's affordable and reliable energy," she said. The Senator's takedown of the government's energy plans comes as the Coalition continues to struggle internally over its own stance on net zero. Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce and Senator Matt Canavan have been amongst a handful of high-profile members pushing for the opposition to scrap their commitment to the emissions reduction target. However, others within the Liberal Party have warned the Coalition risks losing even more support in urban areas if it abandons the pledge, with Labor and Teal independents both positioning themselves as strong on the environment. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has said the Coalition would review its stance on the issue and Senator Ruston was similarly coy when she addressed the party's stance. "We're taking a very considered approach to making sure that the Coalition's energy policy going to the next election is one that will deliver reliable and affordable power, at the same time as making sure emissions reduction is part of the mix," she said.

News.com.au
15 hours ago
- News.com.au
Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean lashes anti-net zero MPs as ‘weird'
Former NSW treasurer Matt Kean has lashed his former federal colleagues, saying they risk 'electoral oblivion' if the opposition choses to abandon bipartisan support on net zero. The Liberal state MP turned Climate Change Authority chair unleashed a series of harsh barbs at Coalition MPs, who've called for the party to dump net zero. He labelled MPs with the view as 'weird' and warned it would result in 'electoral oblivion'. Mr Kean noted the Coalition had lost seats to 'candidates and parties advocating for strong action on climate change' and urged the party to 'ignore the noisy forces advocating for fringe policies'. 'Let me say, as the former Liberal Treasurer in the largest economy in the nation, that it is a sign they are heading for electoral oblivion,' he told the ABC's Afternoon Briefing. 'The Coalition needs to reflect the mood of the Australian public which is clearly saying they want strong and decisive action on climate change in our national interest. 'There are a number of ways they can achieve that and the sooner they start talking about those policies, the sooner of our path back to electoral relevance.' Mr Kean, who passed NSW's state legislation to cement its net zero targets, also said the CCA was 'close' to handing down its recommendation on the highly-anticipated 2035 carbon reduction target, with the body consulting on a figure between 65 to 75 per cent. Currently Australia must reach net zero by 2050, as per the Paris Climate Accords, with Energy Minister Chris Bowen previously saying he was 'confident' Australia would reach the interim 2030 goal of reducing emissions by 43 per cent. Following the Coalition's election walloping, which has reduced the opposition to a paltry 43 seats in the lower house, National MPs and prominent members of the Liberal Party's right called for support for net zero to be dumped. WA Liberal MP Andrew Hastie said it was a 'straitjacket that I'm already getting out of', while Nationals MPs Matt Canavan and Barnaby Joyce respectively labelled it as 'ridiculous' and 'utterly untenable'. Appearing after Mr Kean's segment, Liberal Flinders MP Zoe McKenzie wouldn't directly support or rule out abandoning a net zero target, saying the party was reviewing all of its election policies. However she noted that the Coalition did not prove to be electorally popular, despite keeping it pro-net zero stance. 'As you know we have seen quite clearly that we must have a deeper conversation with the Australian population around the platform of policies we took to the last election and we must understand what they wanted to see done differently,' she said.


Perth Now
16 hours ago
- Perth Now
‘Weird:' Kean unleashes on Coalition MPs
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