(Warning: May contain traces of bias. Guard your children)
I have posted this on Facebook as well as my blog, purely because I see it as such an important issue.
I have been asked my opinion of the ETS by far too many people to keep answering individually, and to everyone, here is my answer. I am writing this whilst watching Malcolm Turnbull’s press conference after the re
signation of nearing half of his shadow ministry in protest of the final vote on the ETS. So to all those pro-Turnbullites, do not keep reading.
After the obvious distaste of his party, and the people of Australia in regards to what most have termed merely a massive tax which will make no difference to the climate, Malcolm Turnbull stands strong, reiterating for what seems the 50th time that he is in fact “the leader” and the issue is Australia’s gravest. Though it seems to me he repeats the phrase so often as to convince himself as much as the people that he is in charge, when it has become quite obvious he has very few allies in his increasingly divergent coalition. He is a sympathetic leftist leader of a moderately conservative party in coalition with a very conservative party. Recipe for disaster much?
Turnbull claims this is not a leadership issue; however, climate change and MT’s leadership have become so fused it is impossible to claim it isn’t so, especially when so many have walked out him, whilst still declaring their loyalty to the party.
I am a liberal, and a very loyal one at that, but I will not stand blindly by a leader who so righteously ignores so much of his party; it is not a one man team, and supporting this ETS is not part of the traditional Liberal way. He has refused to give us a happy medium: it is essentially Turnbull/Rudd’s way or the highway. He’s a very smart bloke, but when Barnaby Joyce makes more sense on the climate issue than he does, then you know something is very amiss.
The fact of the matter is that despite the fact that Australia has the highest rate of emissions per capita, it is still amongst the lowest in the industrialised world. But see, considering the bulk of our economy depends on the mining of non-renewables, and our population is only a little over 21M, it is not surprising that is the case. True, we release something in the vicinity of 1.3 tonnes of carbon per person each year (and, unfortunately, rising by about 3% each year), but when push comes to shove, our global emissions come to a grand total of 1.43%.
Come now, I am not saying that is an awfully good figure, but would the guaranteed 5% reduction of carbon emissions promised by this ETS really be worth the further >$1,000 added to the bills of lower-income families? That’s only the very start of it. It will eventually cost the Australian economy tens of billions of $$. Tell me, is this really worth pulling 1.43% down to about 1.35%?
And just to point out, like Wilson Tuckey exclaimed in Question Time today, the government is granting passes to the big polluters. So, in effect, is that not completely hypocritical?
And, dare I say it, is this not just another chance for Kevin Rudd to fuel his ego, so he can go to Copenhagen with the world’s first ETS in hand, flawed as it may be? Come on. And really, what is the point of having an ETS before Copenhagen, when most of the Western World will be gathering to set a world-wide standard in carbon reduction? We may end up needing to change it anyway!
These are questions one needs to ask themselves before they stone me and half the Liberal Party. What is this ETS really about?
This is not a blog about a “left wing conspiracy” as Greg Combet put it. It is not about fear of establishing a “World Government” under the a new deal at Copenhagen (which is RIDICULOUS; is anyone seriously ignorant enough to believe the world will unite under one government when there are so many converging ideologies? Sure thing, I can totally see America and China agreeing to the same doctrine). It is not about me being a climate change skeptic.
This is about a flawed ETS, costing families thousands every year for a result so miniscule it is almost non-existent. It is about common sense.
Like Barnaby Joyce said; this ETS will not re-freeze the ice caps; it will not cool the atmosphere; it will not save the world, which is what Labor and MT are making it out to be. You know things are really messed up when Joyce is making sense.
Yes, it is Australia’s duty to conform to an agreed standard of carbon reduction, but not one devised by Rudd’s ego. People are not stupid, they know what they want. Why the government is pushing this so vehemently when the general mood is against it could only point to the conclusion of Rudd’s pretentiousness. Seriously, I cannot see it any other way.
So yes, John Howard promised an ETS at the last election, but that was then. This is now. And I doubt that it would have come to fruition if Howard/Costello’s leadership is anything to go by. The Liberals are built on a foundation on conservative realism, and they sure as hell would not have pushed their ETS before a world-wide standard was set.
My overall message is: Do not support it. Take the time now to email your state’s Senators and PROTEST! Kevin Rudd is the PM of Australia, not any other country, and you cannot tell me that his intentions are purely for the benefit of our country. Coming from a family which runs a small construction business, I personally do not believe what cannot be called anything but a giant TAX will be of any benefit to the economy or Australia’s future. Thousands of jobs will be lost, as will billions of $$.
As I have stated before: Seeing as this ETS involves every-single-Australian, why not take it to the people? If Kevin Rudd is so sure this is what the people want, why not ask them? Of course he won't, because behind his spin he knows for damn sure no-one will pass it.
Now, I apologise. This blog post is purely a giant bitch-fest. To the unenlightened, I hope I made some sort of a difference.
By the way, the current count of resignations stands at:
Nick Minchin: Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
Eric Abetz: Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
Tony Abbott: Shadow minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
Stephen Parry: Opposition Whip and Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate
Tony Smith: Shadow Assistant Treasurer
Michael Johnson: Opposition Whip
Sophie Mirabella: MP
Then there’s the 20 odd Senators willing to cross the floor tomorrow, including the front bench portfolio resignations of Mathias Cormann, Mitch Fifield, and Brett Mason.
Well done to all those involved; you’re sure to get elected next year.
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