Wake Up To Climate Change, Australia
Australia has finally started to wake up to climate change. It is real and we must do something about it. It has become a headline issue in the upcoming federal election (May 21st), especially now that GetUp! is touring the country with a bust of Prime Minister Scott Morrison made from coal.
This weekend – in Kooyong and Goldstein, where Josh Frydenberg and Tim Wilson are fighting for their political lives over climate – GetUp unveiled a new statue of Scott Morrison. And it's made entirely out of coal. #CoalMo#ausvotes pic.twitter.com/vh6lESfWeh
— GetUp! (@GetUp) May 3, 2022
The numbers don't lie #CoalMo pic.twitter.com/gVAARzgXPw
— GetUp! (@GetUp) May 4, 2022
Over the past two years, as well as coping with the Covid pandemic, the eastern and most populous states have had to deal with historic bush fires and floods. The damage bill is expensive. Insurance companies have woken up and are talking unaffordable premiums. It is said that 1 in 25 homes will not be able to be insured.
Until recently, climate change was ignored in the mass media — controlled mainly by the Murdoch family. Now, it is mentioned in most news reports on TV. Scientists are being listened to. But is almost too late.
One of the features of the current federal election is the targeting of seats held by the so called “moderate” Liberals (conservative party). These are the men (yes, they are men) who should have stood up to the radical right in federal politics but have been content to sit quietly and allow the rump of the right-wing National party to deny the climate science and push for more coal and gas (Australia has been governed by a coalition of Liberal and National parties for the past 10 years).
These seats are being targeted by highly intelligent women running as independents. These have been nicknamed the “Teal” independents — not quite green and not quite blue. The extent to which the ruling Liberals are concerned can be measured by the number of political attacks that these women are facing.
It is not too late to start to mitigate some of the effects of climate change in the great southland. My hope is for a government that will fast forward the energy transition to renewables. Australia has the sunshine and the space to build solar arrays. We have the wind and plenty of places to build turbines that are NIMBY compliant. We have all the mineral resources to make the cars and the batteries. We just need some visionary leadership at the top of the political dung pile.
No matter who wins the election, the transition will take place. With federal support, it will happen faster, and we don’t have much time anymore.
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